Japan's 10-year bond yield hits 15-year high on BOJ rate hike speculation

TOKYO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Japan's 10-year government bond yield hit a fresh 15-year high on Thursday amid market speculations that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) may raise interest rates faster and higher.

The 10-year JGB yield JP10YTN=JBTC rose 1 basis point (bp) to 1.44%, its highest level since November 2009.

On Thursday, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda met Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba but the two did not discuss recent rises in long-term interest rates.

"The fact that two officials did not talk about the recent rise in JGB yields raised speculations that the government allows the interest rates to go up higher," said Miki Den, senior Japan rate strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities.

"That did not become a cue for buying bonds."

Yields on shorter-dated bonds also rose, with the two-year JGB yield JP2YTN=JBTC climbing 0.5 bp to 0.82% and the five-year yield JP5YTN=JBTC up 0.5 bp to 1.080%.

Yields on longer ended notes fell, as the market saw the yields had risen to near their peak based on Japan's potential growth rate.

The 20-year JGB yield JP20YTN=JBTC slipped 1.5 bps to 2.05%.

The 30-year JGB yield JP30YTN=JBTC fell 1 basis point to 2.320%.

The 40-year JGB yield JP40YTN=JBTC fell 2 basis points to 2.615%.