A global bond selloff accelerated in Asia on Thursday, pushing Japanese benchmark yields to the highest in more than a decade after heavy selling in German bunds spread across fixed income markets.
Asian stocks were buoyed by a delay to some US tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Japan’s 10-year yield touched 1.5% for the first time since June 2009, as the country manages rising inflation and higher borrowing costs.
Treasuries fell, pushing the US 10-year yield higher for a third day to trade around 4.3%. Bund futures extended Wednesday’s decline, while European equity-index futures rose 0.7%.
The moves show how geopolitical volatility over the past few weeks that includes fraying US support for Ukraine and whipsawing news on tariffs has impacted financial markets as traders gauge the impact on growth and inflation.
Also weighing on the fixed-income markets is Germany’s historic plan to ramp up spending with Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz declaring his country would do “whatever it takes” to defend itself. “
