Japan: 10-Year Yield Falls for Second Session.

Japan’s 10-year government bond yield fell to around 2.9% on Friday, declining for a second consecutive session and moving further away from its highest levels since 1996 as the global bond selloff eased. A successful sale of 30-year Japanese government bonds this week also eased market concerns and indicated that investment demand remains firm, with domestic pension funds seeking to increase their JGB allocations in anticipation that the Bank of Japan will accelerate its rate-hiking cycle. Those expectations were reinforced by hawkish remarks from BOJ officials and mounting pressure from the US to support the yen through tighter monetary policy. BOJ board member Hajime Takata raised the possibility of outsized or back-to-back rate hikes, while Governor Kazuo Ueda said policymakers need to pay closer attention to upside price risks. The BOJ is expected to deliver a quarter-point rate hike this month, followed by another increase in December.