Japan's upcoming spring wage discussions, also known as the "shunto" negotiations, will be in focus for investors watching the BOJ's interest rate moves. The negotiations will start some time in February, and larger companies will respond around mid-March.

Japanese household spending rose for the first time in five months in year-on-year terms in December and at a much faster-than-expected pace, but the government said it was too early to call a bottoming out in consumption's downtrend.