Japanese government bond yields jumped on Monday as global debt, currency and equity markets began to absorb a landmark shift by the Bank of Japan to allow yields to rise more freely.
Analysts said BoJ governor Kazuo Ueda’s decision to loosen the central bank’s grip on long-term bond yields marked a significant step towards unwinding decades of ultra-accommodative monetary policy. The benchmark yield on 10-year JGBs rose to a nine-year high on Monday.
The shock decision, which the BoJ denied represented a policy change, was tantamount to calling time on a controversial, seven-year monetary experiment known as yield curve control that set Japan’s central bank far apart from global peers, analysts said.