TOKYO: Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond yields rose on Friday, tracking US Treasury yields higher, while long-end yields fell as buying emerged ahead of a general election in Japan this weekend. The 10-year JGB yield rose one basis point to 0.095%.
US Treasury yields advanced in US markets overnight as investors shrugged off weaker-than-expected US economic growth data and focused instead on the inflation components of the report, as well as a solid jobless claims number.
Yields on the 30- and 40-year bonds ended lower as investors scooped up the debt before the prices gain after a general election in Japan on Sunday, a market participant said.
Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are likely to take a bruising at the weekend's lower house election, though the coalition government should safely retain power, opinion polls on Friday showed.
Concerns over potential sales of new bonds before the election sent their yields higher. The 30-year JGB yield fell one basis point to 0.670% and the 40-year JGB yield fell 2.5 basis points to 0.705%.
The 20-year JGB yield was flat at 0.470%. Short-dated bond yields were also unchanged, with the two-year JGB yield at minus 0.105% and the five-year yield remained at minus 0.075%. Benchmark 10-year JGB futures fell 0.07 point to 151.32, with a trading volume of 27,079 lots.