Japanese government bond futures dropped 1.11 points on Friday to close at 137.35 as spooked investors turned in debt for cash after the domestic money market joined overseas markets in grinding to a halt.

December 10-year futures tumbled as much as 2.66 points to 135.80 in extremely volatile trade that triggered an automatic halt by the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The futures trimmed losses as the Nikkei stock average < .N225> crawled off intraday lows after plummeting more than 11 percent at one stage.

Hit by the bankruptcy filing of Japanese insurer Yamato Life Insurance, the Nikkei closed down 9.6 percent on the day.

The benchmark 10-year JGB yield climbed 6 basis points to 1.515 percent after hitting 1.580 percent.

Source: http://www.afxnews.com

Related Content