(Reuters) - A growing number of market players expect the Bank of Japan to hike interest rates in either July or October, though an October hike is considered more likely, as it would give the BOJ around half a year to evaluate the impact, Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday.
The central bank ended eight years of negative interest rates on Tuesday, making a historic shift away from its focus on reflating growth with decades of massive monetary stimulus.
"Additional hikes are of course on the table," a BOJ source told Nikkei.
Market expectations on the timing of the next rate hike centre on October, as investors believe it would give the BOJ more time to evaluate how the ending of negative rates was affecting prices and the economy, the newspaper reported.
Markets also see a July rate increase as another possibility as a weak yen could raise the price of imports and increase inflation, in turn forcing the BOJ to step in, Nikkei added.
Some in the BOJ feels that an early hike "leaves room for us to consider rolling out another increase before the end of the year," the Nikkei reported.
(This story has been refiled to clarify throughout that financial markets, not the BOJ, views July or October as the likely timing of the next rate hike)