Bonjour a tout le monde fou deles bondaroles
Marìì ora che ti sei tolta pure quell'inutile ammenicolo chi te ferma più
I giapponesi a maggio han sostenuto i bonds:
Japan ups U.S. Treasury buying, yield seen a worry
By Yoshiko Mori
TOKYO, June 7 (Reuters) - Japan bought more U.S. Treasury bonds in May even though it is no longer amassing dollars from currency market intervention in an indication, analysts said, of its concern over a possible steep rise in U.S. yields.
Holdings of foreign bonds in Japan's foreign reserves rose $14.1 billion to $637.8 billion in May from April, while holdings in foreign currency deposits at banks fell by $12.4 billion to $159.3 billion, Ministry of Finance figures showed on Monday.
Analysts said the increased buying may be due to Japanese authorities' concern that yields on U.S. Treasury bonds could surge if demand for the assets fell, damaging the economy in Japan's largest export market and threatening recovery at home. "The weighting shift towards more Treasuries has moderated a rise in U.S. yields, which is also good for Japan," said Masayuki Kichikawa, senior economist at Asahi Life Asset Management.
"A steep rise in U.S. yields is likely to deal a blow to the U.S. equity market and economy, which in turn could hurt Japan's recovery, which is still dependent on export growth," he said.
Japan's economy grew for the eighth straight quarter in the first three months of 2004, driven largely by strong demand for Japanese goods in the United States and China.
Recent figures have shown that non-export parts of Japan's economy are starting to feel the benefits, with improved wages and employment conditions helping lift consumer spending.
Japan has worked over the past year to keep exports on track, buying over $270 billion in the currency markets to try to keep the yen stable.
Most of those dollars have gone into U.S. Treasury bonds.
The ratio of bonds to deposits in Japan's reserves -- which totalled $816.848 billion in May, the largest in the world -- was 3:1 for the January-March period.
It was 4:1 by the end of May because Japan changed foreign currency deposits worth $21 billion into foreign securities.
Analysts say those securities were mostly U.S. Treasuries, judging from Federal Reserve data showing U.S. Treasury securities held in custody for foreign central banks rose by $23.6 billion in the month to May 26.
FINANCING THE DEFICIT
While helping keep a lid on yields, however, some see the huge holdings of Treasuries by Japan, China and other countries as propping up the U.S.'s record $541.8 billion current account deficit.
If that deficit were to keep increasing, sapping the confidence of international investors, the U.S. will need higher interest rates as a risk premium and a lower dollar to attract the foreign capital it needs to finance the deficit.
Japan would therefore be stuck between a rock and a hard place, facing rising yields whether it buys Treasuries or not.
"Japan has put itself in the position of main financier of the United States, and so far has not been able to get out of it," said Kazuo Mizuno, chief economist at Mitsubishi Securities.
Until early last year, the U.S. deficit had been financed mainly by private investors.
But private inflows haven't kept pace with the growth in the deficit, with buying of Treasuries by foreign central banks plugging the gap.
Flemming Larsen, the director of the European office of the International Monetary Fund, said last month that the global appetite for dollar-denominated assets would already have diminished compared to the late 1990s "if not for interventions by Asian central banks".
Larsen added that a scenario of Asian central banks pulling out of the dollar market could have a dramatic effect on international financial stability.
U.S. Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan however has not shown concern over large foreign holdings of Treasuries.
He said last month that foreign central bank holdings of U.S. Treasuries are small compared with the total trading volume in U.S. debt markets, and any sales could be easily absorbed. ($1=110.81 Yen)