AKIPRESS.COM - The yield on Japan’s 20-year government bond Wednesday fell below zero for the first time ever and the 30-year yield dropped as low as 0.015%, as investors seek safety after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The 10-year Japanese government bond yield also fell, hitting a record low of minus 0.275%.

Global markets reacted swiftly after two big British asset managers blocked investors from pulling money out of real-estate funds, pushing the British pound to a 31-year low. As in the initial days after the Brexit referendum, the Japanese yen was often the safe haven of choice for investors, even more so than the U.S. dollar.

The yen rose to around 101 to the dollar in Wednesday afternoon Tokyo trading, up from around 102 yen to the dollar a day earlier.

Among yen-denominated investments, government bonds were benefiting while investors shunned stocks. The 20-year Japanese government bond yield, which was above 1% as recently as last December, fell as low as minus 0.005% on Wednesday. The yield later returned to positive territory and stood at 0.025% mid-afternoon Tokyo time, while the 30-year yield recovered to 0.04%.

Along with shorter-term bonds, the Japanese government issues bonds with 10-year, 20-year, 30-year and 40-year maturities. After the 10-year JGB yield went negative in February, markets have been watching whether the 20-year would follow suit. Japan issued ¥14.4 trillion ($143 billion) in 20-year JGBs in the year ended March 2016, according to the Ministry of Finance.