Futures Weaker But Off Cheaps At Lunch

At the Tokyo lunch break, JGB futures are cheaper, having reached a session low of 148.12 and currently standing at 148.29, -18 compared to the settlement levels.

• There hasn’t been much in the way of domestic drivers to flag, outside of the previously outlined Tokyo CPI and PPI Services data, which had little lasting impact. Tokyo headline CPI missed expectations (3.2% y/y versus 3.4%), but core-core (excluding fresh food and energy) printed in line at 3.9% y/y. However, PPI services for April print at the March rate of 1.6% y/y versus expectations of 1.4%.
• JGB futures corrected lower on Thursday, opening a solid gap with resistance at 149.17, the recent high. Nonetheless, the strong recovery in JGB futures from 147.27, the Apr 18 low, confirms the corrective nature of the recent pullback, according to MNI’s technical team. This keeps medium-term attention on 149.53, the March 22 high and the bull trigger.
• Cash JGBs are cheaper across the curve apart from the 2-year zone which is 0.1bp lower. The benchmark 10-year yield is 1.2bp higher at 0.439%, below the morning session high of 0.454%. The 40-year underperforms on the curve after yesterday’s supply. The yield is 1.9bp higher at 1.490% after hitting a morning high of 1.509%.
• The swap curve bear steepens with swap spreads wider, apart from the 10-20-year zone.