Bank of Japan

Global markets begin the last full week of trading of the year in subdued fashion, with U.S. equity futures rising 0.1%, to 2,258.5, European shares decline halting two straight weeks of gains, and Asian shares hitting a four-week low. The Dollar extends losses, yen and gold rise amid geopolitical concerns as the fallout from China's seizure of a U.S. continues to reverberate. Volumes are thinning before the December holiday season and end of the year, with trading in German bund futures about half the average for the past five days.

Submitted by Paul-Martin Foss via The Mises Institute,

Having seen 10Y JGB yields spike to 10bps (highest since Feb), The Bank of Japan has decided enough is enough and intervened to bring yields back to the stable 0.00% level they decree as fair. The entire Japanese curve is bull-flattening as the long-end is also rallying after Kuroda and his cronies up their purchases to 200 billion yen, from 190 billion previously. All else equal, this will prompt more demand for US paper from Japanese sources.

10Y Yields had risen to their highest since Kuroda unleashed NIRP.

And so it was time to step in

First it was the Fed, then the ECB (which last week tapered when it reduced the monthly amount of bond purchases under its QE program). Now attention shifts to the Bank of Japan, because as the WSJ writes, one of central banking's most aggressive easers - Kuroda's Bank of Japan - may soon have to think about tightening for the first time since 2007.

Ever since the launch of Japan's QE, and worsening in the aftermath of January's shocking NIRP announcement, Japan's bond market, which moments ago slid to new record lows yields across the curve, has had its share of near-death experiences: between repeated VaR shocks, to days in which not a single bond was traded, to trillions in bonds with negative yields, it has seemed that the Japanese Government Bond is on life support. That support may be ending.