Japan yields tick higher after spike in U.S. peers; BOJ in focus

By Kevin Buckland TOKYO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond yields ticked higher on Monday following spikes in Treasury yields last week, as investors bet on higher U.S. interest rates for longer. Still, market participants were cautious ahead of a week packed with Federal Reserve speakers and U.S. data, and culminating in parliamentary testimony by the incoming Bank of Japan leadership team on Friday. The two-year JGB yield rose 0.5 basis point to -0.045%, while the five-year yield added 0.5 basis point to 0.215%, a one-month peak. The 20-year yield gained 1 basis point to 1.320%, and the the 30-year yield advanced 0.5 basis point to 1.490%. The 10-year yield was flat at 0.50%, the policy ceiling under the BOJ's yield curve controls. Benchmark 10-year JGB futures , however, rose a muted 0.04 yen to 146.65. While BOJ Governor nominee Kazuo Ueda has shown himself so far to be a policy dove, investors still expect an end to YCC during his tenure, which is due to start in April. Data from the Japan Securities Dealers Association on Monday showed that foreign investors sold the most JGBs in January on record at 4.119 trillion yen ($30.71 billion). Japanese insurers were also record sellers of superlong bonds, amounting to 446.2 billion yen. The selling came in a month when markets were speculating on another loosening, or even abandonment, of YCC, but with the BOJ instead maintaining policy settings at their meeting, the latter part of January likely saw some bonds being bought back, analysts said. The big buyer in the month was an opaque category called "Others," which snapped up 9.7 trillion yen. "There could be a variety of other entities, but it's safe to assume that the bulk of that is the BOJ," said Katsutoshi Inadome, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management. ($1 = 134.1100 yen) (Reporting by Kevin Buckland, additional reporting by Tomo Uetake; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)