Long-term treasuries surge to a 10-year-high

The trading volume of long-term Korean treasuries reached a six-year high in January, data showed yesterday, apparently due to the country’s low interest rates.

The turnover of 10-year government bonds soared 71.3 percent on-year in January to reach 20.9 trillion won ($19.2 billion), according to data compiled by the Korea Exchange (KRX). The figure marks the highest amount since January 2007.

The trading volume of 20-year debts also jumped nearly two-fold to reach 5.65 trillion won over the cited period, compared to 2.89 trillion tallied in December 2012.

Trading of bonds that mature in 30 years, which were first introduced in September 2012, advanced nearly 12-fold to reach 1.5 trillion won in January from a month earlier.

“Investors sought after long-term government debts mainly due to the country’s low interest rates, while the government also changed the benchmark bond to 10-year Treasuries,” said Kang Hyo-seung, a researcher at Samsung Securities.

The trading volume of three-year treasuries and five-year government bonds jumped 33 percent and 36 percent, respectively, over the cited period, the KRX added. Yonhap