PREVIEW: 15.5- To 39-Year Liquidity Enhancement Auction Due

{JN} JGBS AUCTION PREVIEW: The Japanese Ministry of Finance (MOF) will today sell Y500bn of JGBs with 15.5-39 Years until maturity in a liquidity enhancement auction. JB#1-13, #25-69 & #159-175 will be on offer.

• The previous enhanced liquidity auction covering these maturities was held on February 10. The auction saw Y498.8bn issued and was covered 3.105x at an average spread of +0.002%, and a high spread of +0.003%, with 60.4151% of the bids allotted at the high spread.
• The February auction saw the usual clustering of demand among the bonds on offer, although it was JB#158 that accounted for a notable Y191.5bn of the total allocation.
• Recent JGB auction dynamics and the removal of uncertainty surrounding the BoJ's monetary policy review bode well for the auction, although the turn of the Japanese FY may result in some domestic participants looking to put their capital to work in offshore investments, which could limit overall demand.
• Results due at 0435BST/1235JST.