JGB futures edged higher in the afternoon,.....>

JGBS: JGB futures edged higher in the afternoon, to trade 3 ticks better off at

151.00 as the Nikkei 225 failed to hold on to the bulk of its gains.

- The BoJ stood pat at its latest decision, as expected, while Kataoaka once

again dissented in favour of looser policy.

- The decision itself was always likely to be a non-event, with markets set to

pay more attention to BoJ Gov. Kuroda's press conference following last Friday's

apparent mishap.

- Looking at technicals for JGB futures, bulls continue to look for a close

above 151.19 to initially target 151.51 2017 highs. The Bollinger band top

(151.18) is the key concern for bulls with potential to limit follow through.

Bears still need a close below 150.89 to ease bullish pressure and below 150.47

to target 2018 lows.