TOKYO, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond
yields rose slightly from one-month lows on Monday, as traders
awaited a speech by Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda later in
the week for clues on the pace of monetary tightening.
The five-year JGB yield rose 1 basis point
(bp) to 0.710% as of 0548 GMT, after falling to as low as 0.68%
on Friday.
The two-year yield was flat at 0.57%, after
dipping to 0.555% in the previous session for the first time
since Nov. 20.
Yields have been largely in retreat since BOJ Governor Ueda on
Thursday sent a more dovish message than investors had expected,
saying it would still take considerable time to assess the trend
for domestic wages and global economic growth.
However, a sharp depreciation in the yen since then has put
the market on alert for a more hawkish shift in Ueda's speech on
Wednesday, said Masayuki Kichikawa, chief macro strategist at
Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
Kichikawa expects a rate hike in either January or March,
with policymakers waiting another six months from then to raise
rates again, eventually reaching at least 1% for the benchmark
rate.
That would mean 10-year JGB yields gradually rise to around
1.3-1.5%, he said.
In the current session, the 10-year yield
added 0.5 bp to 1.055%.
Benchmark 10-year JGB futures fell 0.08 yen to
142.39. Prices and yields move inversely.
On the super-long end, the 20-year JGB yield
rose 1.5 bps to 1.860%, while the 30-year JGB yield
added 0.5 bp to 2.255%.
(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Varun H K)