The US Tsy curve finished Wednesday's..........>

JGBS: The US Tsy curve finished Wednesday's session steeper in the wake of the

latest FOMC meeting minutes with the US 10-Year yield last at 2.950%.

- The US 5-Year auction was well absorbed overnight stopping on the screws

despite a slightly lower cover ratio and an uptick in dealer takedown.

- Focus today will be on 20-Year supply out of Japan, while we will also get

3-Month bill issuance & the weekly Japanese international security flow data.

- Barclays suggest that "today could see sellers initially take the upper hand

in JGBs, led by the long end ahead of the 20y auction, after USTs bear-steepened

sharply overnight. We expect the 20y auction (JL163) to clear smoothly assuming

yields near current levels (WI close on 21 February: 0.565%). Although yields

are lower than the average at the last auction, we expect the issue to find a

certain level of support given the demand into the FY-end and the unlikely

prospect of the BoJ reducing the size of its operations amid JPY appreciation."