TOKYO, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Monday announced a reduction of the amount of Japanese government bonds it offered to buy in a regular purchase operation.
The central bank offered to buy 425 billion yen (about 2.73 billion U.S. dollars) in Japanese government bonds with five to 10 years left to maturity, down 50 billion yen from the previous such operation.
The benchmark yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond subsequently climbed to a six-month high of 0.935 percent at one point.
The reduction was the first since the BOJ in March adjusted its massive monetary easing, including ending its negative interest rate policy.
Some market participants saw the move as the BOJ's latest effort to counter the weakening yen.
BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has said recently that bond yields should be determined more by market forces. Despite the March policy change, the BOJ has vowed to maintain its monthly bonds purchases at around 6 trillion yen to prevent a surge in yields that would negatively affect the economy and its resolve to achieve stable inflation. ■