TOKYO: Japan’s government bond (JGB) yields were almost flat on Monday as investors struggled to find market-moving cues at home and abroad, especially with the US markets closed for a public holiday.

The 10-year JGB yield edged up 0.5 basis points (bps) to 0.73%.

The 20-year JGB yield also inched up 0.5 bps to 1.51%.

“The US markets are closed later in the day and we saw little cues in Japan either, so the market was making a range-bound move,” said Katsutoshi Inadome, a senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management.

US markets are closed on Monday for the Presidents’ Day holiday.

At the shorter end of the curve, the yield on one-year treasury bills turned positive at an auction for the first time in almost in a decade, a sign that investors bet the Bank of Japan’s exit from its negative rate policy is imminent.

“The outcome means that one-year treasury bills could become an attractive target for Japan’s major banks,” said Inadome, adding that this was the first positive yield at the auction since October 2014.

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The yield at the lowest-accepted price was 0.0468%, while it was 0.0129% at the average price. The two-year JGB yield rose 0.5 bps to 0.145% and the five-year yield rose 0.5 bps to 0.350%.

The 30-year JGB yield was flat at 1.775% and the 40-year JGB yield was also flat at 1.995%.