incumbent Haruhiko Kuroda as central bank governor, whose term ends on April 8, the Nikkei newspaper reported. Amamiya played a key role in drafting Kuroda's asset-buying programme in 2013 and consistently supported ultra-low interest rates. The new governor is chosen at a time rising inflation as well as distortion of the market caused by the BOJ's massive bond buying will soon force the BOJ to alter or abandon its yield-curve-control (YCC) policy.
"We are monitoring who will become the governor but we also eye who will be in the new governor's team, including the balance of dovish and hawkish members," said Shinji Ebihara, a rates strategist at Barclays Securities Japan. "In that sense, there are still uncertainties and first of all this is just a report."
The 10-year JGB yield rose 0.5 basis point to 0.490%, just below the upper end of the BOJ's policy band for the benchmark bond yield of 0.5%. The 20-year JGB yield rose 3 bps to 1.310%.
The 30-year JGB yield rose 2 bps ahead of an auction for 30-year bonds. The 40-year JGB yield rose 2 bps 1.775%.
On Friday, U.S. Treasury yields jumped after data showed job growth surged and services activity rebounded in January. Yields on shorter notes also rose, with the two-year JGB yield rising 0.5 bp to -0.030% and the five-year yield climbing 1 bps to 0.165%. Benchmark 10-year JGB futures fell 25 yen to 146.9, with a trading volume of 9,404 lots. (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
