, though, was a notable outlier, flipping early gains to be last down 0.43% as it struggles to find its feet following its retreat from a 33-year peak reached at the start of this month., after the index rallied 0.85% overnight.
U.S. two-year Treasury yields , which tend to be most sensitive to the Fed policy outlook, languished at 4.63%, following a 30 basis point slide this week that extended its drop from last week's 16-year peak above 5%. Speculation that the BOJ could widen its 10-year yield band this month has been rising since a labor report a week ago showed solid growth in wages.