TOKYO, March 16 (Reuters) - The yield on Japan's 10-year
government bond fell on Thursday, tracking U.S. Treasury yields,
which fell on renewed fears of a global banking crisis driven by
problems at Swiss bank Credit Suisse .
The 10-year JGB yield fell as much as 5 basis
points (bps) to 0.270% in early trade. It last traded down 3 bps
to 0.290%, well below the top end of the Bank of Japan's policy
ceiling.
"With the U.S. interest rates falling this low, it might
take time for Japanese government bond (JGB) yields to go back
to the previous level," said Hiroshi Namioka, chief strategist
and fund manager at T&D Asset Management.
Japanese yields began falling sharply after the central bank
maintained its ultra-low policy last week and extended the
declines as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank drove
fears of a financial crisis.
"But fundamentally, the market function for JGBs is
depressed. So once yields on overseas bonds start rising, the
discussion about the BOJ policy will be revived."
U.S. Treasury yields slumped overnight as concerns on the
bank's fate worsened as Credit Suisse's largest shareholder said
it could not provide further support to the bank.
The 20-year JGB yield was flat at 1.075%,
after falling to as low as 1.005% before an auction for bonds
with the same maturity.
The five-year yield fell 2 bps to 0.105%.
The 30-year JGB yield rose 2.5 bps to 1.300%.
The two-year JGB yield was flat at -0.055%.
The 40-year JGB yield was also flat at
1.500%.
Benchmark 10-year JGB futures rose to as high as
148. 0.63 yen to 148.35.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
