TOKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Japan's 10-year government bond (JGB) yield came off its early high to trade lower on Thursday, as investors were relieved by comments from Bank of Japan (BOJ) Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida.
Uchida said in his speech in western Japan earlier in the day that the central bank is unlikely to raise interest rates aggressively, even after ending its negative interest rate policy.
"There were caution among market players that Uchida might say something deeper about the interest rate hike path but the tone of his speech was rather soft," said Naoya Hasegawa, senior bond strategist at Okasan Securities.
The 10-year JGB yield was last seen at 0.700%, down 0.5 basis point (bp) from the previous session. The yield hit 0.730% earlier in the session.
Market players carefully monitor comments from Uchida, a key BOJ official to steer the central bank's monetary policy, as pressure for the BOJ to end its negative rate policy rises. He will speak at a media briefing later in the day.
Last month, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said the chance of meeting the country's inflation goal was rising, suggesting an end to negative interest rates was nearing.
The 20-year JGB yield fell 1 bp to 1.470%, after hitting 1.5%. The 30-year JGB yield fell 0.5 bp to 1.760%.
The two-year JGB yield rose 0.5 bp to 0.105%.
The five-year yield was flat at 0.310%.
The 40-year JGB yield was flat at 2.000%.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; diting by Rashmi Aich)
