As investors searched for signs to move markets both domestically and internationally, particularly with the U.S. markets closed for a public holiday, Japan’s government bond (JGB) yields were essentially unchanged on Monday.

Rising to 0.73%, the yield on the 10-year JGB increased 0.5 basis points (bps). At 1.51%, the yield on the 20-year JGB increased by 0.5 basis points as well.

“The U.S. 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.

Monday is Presidents’ Day, and U.S. markets are closed.

In an indication that investors believe the Bank of Japan will soon abandon its negative rate policy, the yield on one-year Treasury bills became positive at the shorter end of the curve at an auction for the first time in nearly ten years.

Adding that this was the first positive yield at the auction since October 2014, Inadome stated that the result meant that one-year Treasury bills might become an appealing target for Japan’s large banks.

In contrast to the average price of 0.0129%, the yield at the lowest-accepted price was 0.0468%.

Both the five-year yield and the two-year yield increased by 0.5 percentage points to 0.350% and 0.145%, respectively.

Both the 30-year and 40-year JGB yields were flat, coming in at 1.775% and 1.995%, respectively.