21 Sep 2016
Treasury yield curve steepens as BOJ introduces yield curve control
Treasury yield curve steepened after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept rates unchanged and said it would keep 10-yr yield around zero percent.
At the time of writing, the benchmark 10-yr treasury yield was up 3.3 basis points at 1.72%. The 30-yr yield was up 5 basis points at 2.478%. Meanwhile, at the short-end of the curve, the two-year yield was marginally higher at 0.787%.
Bank of Japan (BOJ) changed its focus to yield curve control. It means the bank would do whatever necessary to keep 10-yr yield around zero percent. This indirectly suggests the central bank does not want the curve to flatten given it has kept the QQE program largely unchanged.