LONDON :Japanese investors launched their largest monthly sell-off of German bonds in over a decade in April, data showed on Monday, a month after Germany’s borrowing costs shot up in reaction to a debt-rule overhaul to ramp up spending.
Japanese investors sold nearly 1.5 trillion yen ($10.4 billion) of German bonds after accounting for purchases, according to data released by Japan’s finance ministry, which Commerzbank said was the most since 2014.
Germany’s decision to create a 500 billion euro ($546 billion) infrastructure fund and ease strict borrowing rules to boost defence spending sent its bond yields surging in March.
Japan’s investors also sold nearly 1.1 trillion yen in long-term U.S. Treasuries, the data showed, the most since October, according to Commerzbank.
U.S. Treasury yields were whipsawed in April following U.S. President Donald Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariff announcements. They surged over 70 basis points (bps) in one week in April, raising questions about the safe haven status of the world’s biggest government bond market.
German bond yields, meanwhile, dropped sharply that month as the market stood out as a safe-haven for investors amid U.S. Treasury volatility.
Japanese investors are the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries and a major holder of euro zone government bonds, so shifts in their investments are tracked closely by markets.
($1 = 144.1300 yen)
