Financial institution of Japan to conduct emergency bond shopping for as yen teeters close to 150 By Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s central financial institution on Thursday stated it will maintain emergency bond-buying operations, providing to purchase some $667 million in authorities debt, a transfer designed to place a ground below bond costs.

The announcement from the Financial institution of Japan got here because the yen foreign money teetered on the break of 150 to the greenback, a stage that will mark a 32-year-low and has been seen as psychologically essential for market gamers.

The yen has been hammered this yr by the widening distinction between U.S. and Japanese rates of interest. Some traders have guess Japan might want to ditch its lengthy coverage of “yield curve management”, or YCC, – the place it buys large quantities of bonds to maintain the yield on 10-year debt at round 0%.

However the central financial institution has to this point confirmed no signal of fixing tack. Policymakers on the earth’s third-largest financial system have repeatedly careworn the necessity to hold coverage ultra-loose, citing a fragile restoration, weak home demand and loads of abroad dangers.

Thursday’s transfer confirmed the BOJ was persevering with to purchase bonds and conserving the YCC coverage in place. The central financial institution stated it will purchase 100 billion yen ($667 million) of JGBs with maturities of 10-20 years and one other 100 billion of bonds with maturities of 5-10 years.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB briefly touched 0.255% for the second straight day, above the BOJ’s coverage ceiling, earlier than retreating to 0.25%, inside the band.

($1 = 149.9300 yen)