JGB's futures finished the session unchanged...>

JGBS: JGB's futures finished the session unchanged at 150.67 with curve

flattening apparent. The space was underpinned by softer equities, and ignored

January's BoJ meeting minutes & the latest machine tool orders release.

- The space also ignored comments from BoJ Governor Kuroda after he expressed

confidence in the Bank's ability to exit its ultra-loose MonPol settings, but

conceded that it is not time for such discussions.

- The BoJ's latest batch of Rinban operations delivered mixed results across the

buckets. The 1-3 Year bucket saw the offer to cover ratio tick higher, which

pushed the discount to current market prices higher, while the 5-10 Year offer

to cover ratio moderated allowing the operation to move into a slight premium

against current market prices. The operations in the 3-5 Year bucket were

broadly consistent with the results from the most recent operations.

- From a technical perspective the 150.55 support is key with bears needing a

close below to shift focus to 150.36. The Bollinger base (150.59) is the key

concern for bears. Bulls now need a close above the 100-DMA (150.70) to gain

breathing room and above 150.78 to shift focus back to 150.87-90.