TOKYO, Oct 8 (IFR) - Japanese government bonds rose on Wednesday, taking their cue from sagging stocks amid worries about global growth.
In the morning session, several regional banks sold 10-year JGBs to lock in profits, while a few public pension funds bought 20-year JGBs maturing in around 18 years, market participants said. Most domestic real-money accounts took a wait-and-see stance after U.S. Treasury yields, stock prices and dollar/yen all fell sharply overnight.
Japan's Nikkei stock average skidded 1.2 percent in afternoon trading.
The JGB market shrugged off Ministry of Finance data that showed Japan's current account surplus grew in August, as income from investments overseas bolstered the balance of payments.
In afternoon trade, the yield on 2-year JGBs was down 0.5 basis point at 0.050 percent, while the 10-year yield fell 0.5 basis point to 0.505 percent.
In the superlong zone, the yield on 20-year JGBs was down 1 basis point at 1.335 percent, while the 30-year yield slipped 0.5 basis point to 1.630 percent.
Lead 10-year December JGB futures added 0.11 point to 146.16, after closing the morning session at 146.12.
The Ministry of Finance sold 500 billion yen ($4.61 billion US dollar) of 10-year CPI-linked JGBs on Wednesday, carrying a coupon of 0.1 percent, unchanged from the previous issue. The lowest price was 108.05, and the bid-to-cover ratio dropped to 2.11 times from 2.54 at the previous sale.
(1 US dollar = 108.3600 Japanese yen) (Reporting by Masatsugu Hisatsune; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)