Japan's 10-year yield hits three-decade peak on inflation worries

August 17, 2026 8:16 PM EDT

FILE PHOTO: A Japanese yen note is seen in this illustration photo taken June 1, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration/File Photo

TOKYO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Japan's ‌benchmark 10-year government ​bond ​yield climbed to a three-decade high on Tuesday as a stalemate in the Middle East conflict stoked inflation worries and reinforced ‌speculation about a near-term Bank of Japan interest-rate increase.

The 10-year ⁠JGB yield added 1.5 basis points (bps) to 2.935% as of 0415 GMT, after earlier touching ‌2.945% for the first time ‌since September 1996. Yields rise when bond prices fall.

The yield retreated from the day's high following a solid auction of 5-year JGBs, which ​saw the highest level of demand since June 2025 as the higher yield on offer attracted buyers.

Following the auction result, the 5-year yield ⁠reversed an early rise to decline 1 bp to 2.15%. It had started the day by rising ​2 bps to a record 2.18%.

Other cash bond tenors had not traded since the auction result.

The 20-year and 30-year ​JGB yields had risen 2.5 bps to ‌2.935% and 4 bps to 4.115%, respectively, in the Tokyo morning.

Longer-dated bond yields tend to be more responsive to ⁠inflationary concerns.

The 2-year JGB yield, which is most sensitive to monetary policy expectations, had risen 1 bp to 1.7%, the highest since May 1995.

Comments from BOJ officials ⁠have turned increasingly hawkish in recent days, and Reuters and other media reported that the ​policy board may pursue more aggressive tightening than it has to this point.

DBS analysts raised forecasts for the 10-year JGB yield to reach 2.85% by year-end, and now ‌expect the BOJ to raise the key rate in September while accelerating the pace of tightening to one quarter-point ‌move every three to four months, from about twice a year currently.

"The government ⁠also appears less opposed to ‌an early hike, further ​increasing the likelihood of a September move," they said in a note.

(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and ‌Sonia Cheema)



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