The Rumour Mill

•JGB futures traded away from their early afternoon lows to finish 7 ticks lower on the day, ~30 ticks from worst levels. The language employed in a Nikkei article pointing to the potential for the Bank to widen its permitted 10-Year JGB yield trading band to -/+0.25% from the current -/+0.20% at tomorrow's decision is perhaps not as forceful as the title, using phrases like "envisioned policy change" and "will be looking at measures," as opposed to the more forceful title of "BoJ To Widen Interest Rate Target Range To Support Banks." Longer dated JGBs are a little firmer on the day after trading around 3.0bp cheaper in the early part of the Tokyo afternoon, quickly unwinding the cheapening seen in the wake of the Nikkei article, with the 7-10 Year zone sitting ~0.5bp cheaper on the day in late cash trade, underperforming on the curve.