TOKYO: Japanese government bonds were narrowly mixed on Thursday, as 10-year bonds were dented by a slightly weak auction results while other maturities held steady to firmer, mirroring US bond prices overnight.

On the whole, the market was little moved, with investors taking only minimum actions ahead of important US employment data later in the week.

The 10-year JGB yield rose 0.5 basis point to 0.080%.

Demand at the auction of 2.6 trillion yen ($23.68 billion) 10-year JGBs was a tad weaker than expected, leading the auction's tail to widen to 0.06 from 0.02 in the previous auction.

Nonetheless, the market was supported overall, with most investors on the sidelines ahead of Friday's US payrolls data.

The 20-year JGB yield was flat at 0.455% while the 30-year yield fell 0.5 basis point to 0.685% from near two month-high hit in the previous session.

The five-year yield was flat at minus 0.100%. Benchmark 10-year JGB futures rose 0.02 point to 151.49, with a trading volume of 22,938 lots.

US bonds held firm in the previous session ahead of private payrolls data on Thursday and the monthly federal jobs report on Friday.