QUOTES-BOJ Governor Ueda's comments at news conference

Oct 31 (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan further loosened its grip on long-term interest rates by tweaking its bond yield control policy again on Tuesday, taking another small step towards dismantling the past decade's massive monetary stimulus.

Following are excerpts from BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda's comments at his post-meeting news conference, which was conducted in Japanese, as translated by Reuters:

ULTRA-LOOSE MONETARY POLICY

"We will conduct market operations nimbly looking at the level and speed of long-term interest rates, while maintaining ultra-loose monetary policy. We could increase bond buying, or conduct emergency bond buying, even when long-term interest rates fall below 1%. We could also conduct unlimited bond-buying operations as needed. We don't have a rigid cap now. But we don't expect long-term interest rates to move sharply above 1%."

MONETARY CONDITIONS SUFFICIENTLY ACCOMMODATIVE

"As inflation expectations are heightening gradually, real interest rates remain negative. As such, monetary conditions are sufficiently accommodative (even with today's step)."

PROLONGED COST-PUSH INFLATION

"The main driver behind the recent inflation overshoot is prolonged cost-push inflation ... But the prospects of sustainably achieving our target have heightened somewhat."

TREND INFLATION

"We've seen cost-driven inflation last longer than expected. But we haven't revised up much our view on trend inflation. We still haven't seen enough evidence to feel confident that trend inflation will (sustainably hit 2%). As such, we don't see a big risk of being behind the curve."

A MORE FLEXIBLE YCC

"The reason why we made YCC more flexible is that we wanted to forestall the future risk of market volatility, including exchange-rate volatility."

LONG-TERM INTEREST RATES

"If there are speculative moves that are groundless, we will respond with market operations. But we will accommodate a rise in long-term interest rates that reflect fundamentals."

ON MARKET VIEWS ABOUT NEGATIVE RATES

"The key is whether inflation will push up wages, as we've seen happen this year repeatedly. It's also important for this cycle to push inflation towards 2%. Next year's wage negotiation is one important factor we're looking at. Another factor we'll scrutinise is whether wage hikes will lead to higher inflation."

ON YCC AND NEGATIVE RATES

"We don't have any preset idea on the sequence of an end to YCC and negative rates as that will depend on economic and price developments at the time. But our basic stance is to maintain both YCC and negative rates until sustained achievement of 2% inflation comes into sight."

WAGE NEGOTIATIONS

"If we wait until the final outcome of next year's wage negotiations, that will mean waiting until late next year. Whether we can confirm the kind of wage hike we are aiming at beforehand, using wage data and hearings on companies, would depend on economic developments at the time. We're not looking just at wages alone in determining whether sustained achievement of 2% inflation is in sight. It's a comprehensive judgement, looking also at whether inflation will push up wages. We don't have any foresight on when we can make that call."

IMPACT OF SOFTER YEN ON EXPORT VOLUME

"A weak yen pushes up the cost of imports. But it could also drive up demand through (an increase in) export volume. If cost-push inflation persists, like we've seen in the past two years, that could heighten inflation expectations."

IMPACT OF JAPAN'S ULTRA-LOW RATES ON YEN MOVES

"It's true the gap between domestic and overseas interest rates affect currency moves. But the exchange-rate fluctuations we've seen recently are probably driven mostly by overseas interest rate developments."

BOJ'S NEW LINE-IN-THE-SAND FOR THE 10-YEAR YIELD

"On the assumption that we will buy large amounts of bonds, and nimbly conduct market operations including unlimited, fixed-rate bond buying offers, we don't expect the 10-year yield to sharply exceed 1% on a sustained basis."

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)