JGB yields flat ahead of policy decision

TOKYO, June 17 (Reuters) - Japan's government bond yields held steady on Tuesday as investors awaited the Bank of Japan's policy decision due later in the day.

The 10-year JGB yield JP10YTN=JBTC was at 1.45%, unchanged from the previous session, after falling 1 basis point (bp) to 1.44% earlier in the session.

The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates steady at the end of its two-day meeting and to announce a slower pace of reductions in its bond purchases from the next fiscal year.

"Investors cautiously await the exact amounts of the cuts in the bond buying, but they also want to see any signs of the final goal of the reduction," said Yoshiro Sato, economist at Resona Holdings.

The BOJ began tapering its massive bond buying last year in a bid to wean the economy off decades of heavy stimulus and revive a market that had been left dormant by its dominant presence.

The BOJ is under pressure from JGB investors to slow the pace of its tapering after yields on super-long-dated bonds rose to record highs last month.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance is also expected to reduce the sale of longer-dated bonds to improve demand for such bonds.

The five-year yield JP5YTN=JBTC was flat at 1.010% and the 20-year JGB yield JP20YTN=JBTC was also unchanged at 2.38%.

As of 0050 GMT, bonds with other maturities had not yet been priced.