-- where it guides short-term rates at -0.1% and 10-year Japan government bond yield around zero -- at some point.
Nomura Asset Management CIO, Equity, Yuichi Murao said while a policy tweak was likely around mid-year, an official rate rise was not an immediate prospect. "The negative interest rate policy is going to be in place for the next twelve months in our view," Murao said, adding that allowing rates to move into positive territory would probably be "the last thing" the BOJ would do.
Japan's 10-year bond yield is at 0.41% , versus a 10-year U.S. Treasury yield at 3.8% . The BOJ jolted markets late last year by allowing 10-year yields to rise to a limit of 0.5%. Nomura Asset Management runs around $485 billion and is the largest provider of exchange-traded funds in Japan.