Institution: Bank of Japan's summary of opinion sends a strong signal of interest rate hike.

Frances Cheung from the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited Research Department stated in a research report that the summary of the April meeting of the Bank of Japan released earlier had sent a strong signal of a rate hike. The foreign exchange and interest rate strategy director pointed out that the summary stated, "Even though the future direction of the Middle East situation is still unclear, the Bank of Japan is likely to raise policy rates starting from the next [monetary policy meeting]." "We expect the next 25 basis point rate hike to come in June, followed by another 25 basis point hike in the fourth quarter," Cheung said.