Additional BOJ hikes seen by some once negative rates end

TOKYO -- Investors, especially those outside Japan, see the Bank of Japan as likely to engage in additional rate hikes this year after it scraps its negative-rate policy, market indicators suggest, though early rate cuts in the U.S. could complicate the picture.

The yield on newly issued two-year Japanese government bonds, which are sensitive to policy rate expectations, reached a three-month high of 0.11% on Monday and stayed around that level Tuesday. The figure has trended higher since mid-January, when speculation picked up about the BOJ scrapping negative rates by spring.