TOKYO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond (JGB) yields inched higher from session lows on Friday after weak demand at a 30-year bond auction left investors disappointed.
The 30-year JGB yield, which fell to a low of 1.560 earlier in session, inched up to 1.580% after the auction outcome.
"Yields across the curve were on downward trend, but they edged up after the weak outcome," said Kazuhiko Sano, a strategist at Tokai Tokyo Securities.
"The results were a just little better than the previous auction, which was really bad. I suspect life insurers did not actively buy the bonds."
The Ministry of Finance's auction saw the lowest bidding price at 99 yen, lower than the market expectation of around 99.50 yen, Sano said.
The auction received bids worth three times the amount sold, higher than a ratio of 2.62 times in the previous auction.
Overall, the yields were lower than the previous session, amid fading expectations for an early policy tweak from the Bank of Japan (BOJ).
The 10-year JGB yield was at 0.580% before the auction outcome. It later inched up to 0.585%, which was 1.5 basis points (bps) lower than the previous session.
The 20-year JGB yield fell 1 bp to 1.300%.
The two-year JGB yield fell 1 bp to 0.010%.
The five-year yield fell 1 bp to 0.170%.
The 40-year JGB yield fell 0.5 bp to 1.825%. (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)