JGB yields track US Treasury yields lower on Trump tariff relief

TOKYO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond (JGB) yields fell on Tuesday, tracking U.S. Treasury yields which slipped after President Donald Trump did not impose tariffs on his first day in office.

The 10-year JGB yield fell 1 basis point (bp) to 1.18%. The five-year yield fell 0.5 bp to 0.845%.

The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury bond fell 7.1 bps in Asian trade after Trump stopped short of imposing new tariffs on imported goods.

The yield on the U.S. note maintained the decline even as Trump later suggested the United States could impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico in the near future, helping the dollar to pare some losses and the Nikkei to narrow gains.

Japan's two-year JGB yield fell 0.5 bp to 0.67%.

Investors expect the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to raise interest rates on Friday, a move that would lift short-term borrowing costs to levels unseen since the 2008 global financial crisis.

"The market has already priced in the BOJ's rate hike so even if the BOJ announces the move on Friday, its impact on yields is limited," said Yuki Matsuda, bond market analyst at Mizuho Securities.

Swap rates indicated an 87.7% chance for the BOJ to raise rate to 0.5% on Friday.

The 20-year JGB yield was flat at 1.895%.

The 30-year JGB yield fell 0.5 bp to 2.26%.

The 40-year JGB yield fell 3 bps to 2.68%.

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)