TOKYO, Oct 11 (IFR) - Japanese government bond prices were mostly weaker on Friday, with the 10-year yield hitting a two-week high, as hopes of a breakthrough in the U.S. fiscal log jam buoyed Tokyo shares and other risky assets.
Losses were limited, however, as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) offered to buy 600 billion yen ($6.1 billion) worth of JGBs with residual maturities of five to more than 10 years, as part of its drive to revive the world's third-largest economy.
The 10-year yield added 0.5 basis point to 0.655 percent after earlier rising to as much as 0.665 percent, its highest since Oct. 1. It is up 0.5 basis point so far this week, on track to snap a four-week decline.
By contrast, the Nikkei share average climbed 1.3 percent to a more than one-week high.
U.S. Republicans offered a plan to President Barack Obama on Thursday that would postpone a possible U.S. default in a sign that the two sides may be moving to end the standoff that has shuttered large parts of the government and thrown America's future creditworthiness into question.
No deal emerged from a 90-minute meeting at the White House, but the two sides said they would continue to talk. It was the first sign of a thaw in a political crisis that has weighed on financial markets and knocked hundreds of thousands of federal employees out of work.
Yields on longer-dated JGBs also rose, with the 30-year debt up 1 basis point to 1.635 percent.
The five-year yield was up 0.5 basis point at 0.230 percent, while the 10-year JGB futures slipped 0.05 point to 144.34.
Earlier, data from the BOJ showed Japanese wholesale prices in September rose 2.3 percent from a year earlier.