Japan’s government bond advanced, as stocks extended a slump deteriorating finances in Europe derailing the global economic recovery. Yields fell 1.5 basis points to 1.34% at Japan Bond Trading Co., the nation’s largest inter-dealer debt broker.

“A strong belief that the BOJ will maintain monetary easing will curtail any spike in bond yields”, said RuiXue Xu, a strategist at RBS Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo.

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Norihiro Fujito, general manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities said that there were a lot of concerns including the euro zone issues, the chance of limits on U. S. bank risk taking, and worries about Chinese credit tightening that need to be looked after.

For the fourth consecutive day, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined losing 0.2 percent to 9,932.90, marking its lowest close since Dec. 10. The broader Topix lost 0.2 percent to 881.57.

But shares of defensive stocks such as drug makers fell. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co slid 2.6 percent to 3,895 yen and Chugai Pharmaceutical Co fell 2.5 percent to 1,742 yen.