Japanese government bond prices have lurched lower for the second straight day as markets forcefully challenged the central bank’s assertion that it was not planning to raise interest rates.
Yields on typically sleepy Japanese government bonds blasted higher on Tuesday, sending shockwaves across global debt markets, after Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda stunned investors in his final months in office with a tweak to the way the central bank keeps a lid on long-term borrowing costs. “This measure is not a rate hike,” Kuroda said. “Adjusting the [yield curve control] does not signal?.?.?. an exit strategy.”
But on Wednesday, yields kept on cranking higher, with benchmark 10-year yields reaching 0.5 per cent — low by global standards but a significant doubling from the start of this week and the highest point since mid-2015. Pressure on the debt suggests investors believe they can see the beginning of an end to Japan’s six-year experiment with negative interest rates and yield targeting.