JGB sentiment steady but still negative -Thomson Reuters survey

TOKYO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A weekly gauge of sentiment in the Japanese government bond market was steady but remained in negative territory for a seventh straight week, the latest Thomson Reuters poll showed on Monday.

The poll's JGB bull-bear diffusion index, calculated by subtracting the number of bearish market players from those who are bullish, was minus 10, only slightly changed from minus 9 in the previous survey.

The median forecast for the benchmark 10-year JGB yield at the end of this week was 0.750 percent, matching the forecast in the previous poll and only 5 basis points above Friday's closing level of 0.745 percent.

Half of respondents expect long JGB yields to move sideways this week, down from 57.1 percent in last week's survey.

Some 30 percent expect yields to rise, up from 25.7 percent in the previous survey, while 20.0 percent expected yields to fall, slightly up from 17.1 percent.

Expectations of more bond-buying from the Bank of Japan has been underpinning bond market sentiment in recent months. Last week, the BOJ kept monetary policy steady and raised its assessment of the economy, as the yen's recent weakness and budding signs of recovery in global demand offered some relief to the export-reliant economy.

On Monday, the yield on benchmark 10-year bonds rose 1 basis point to 0.755 percent, while 10-year JGB futures slipped 0.08 point to 144.15.

The online survey of 96 JGB market participants from major institutions received 30 responses, for a response rate of 31.3 percent. These included 13 "real money" investors from institutions such as banks, pension and investment funds, and insurance companies.

The latest survey was conducted from Friday to 8:30 a.m. on Monday (2330 GMT on Sunday).

(Reporting by Yoshiyasu Shida, writing by Lisa Twaronite; Editing by Eric Meijer)