LONDON/TOKYO/NEW YORK— A sense of calm settled on the world’s biggest bond markets on Wednesday, but concerns about the fiscal health of major economies from Japan to Britain and the United States kept long-dated borrowing costs pinned near multi-year highs.
Worries about Japan’s fiscal position were revived after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s close aide said he intended to resign from his post, pushing Japan’s 30-year government bond yield to a record high well above 3 percent.
That came a day after borrowing costs, which set the tone for lending rates for corporates and consumers, rose sharply in France and Britain while sterling tumbled, too.
A reshuffle of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s top team of advisers on Monday renewed the focus on fiscal challenges given Britain’s high levels of borrowing and slow growth. In France, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou is expected to lose a September 8 confidence vote he called in an attempt to win backing for an unpopular debt-reduction plan.
