By Sam Byford

TOKYO, July 15 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond yields saw minor fluctuations on Friday, as investors awaited U.S. retail sales data for clues of a potential recession and future interest-rate hikes.

The 10-year JGB yield rose 0.5 basis point to 0.235%. The two-year JGB yield went untraded and the five-year yield was flat at 0.030%.

Benchmark 10-year JGB futures fell 0.03 point to 149.2, with a trading volume of 5,782 lots.

"Without any clues ahead of the release of the U.S. retail sales report tonight, there was low volume in futures and the market had no particular direction," said Katsutoshi Inadome, a senior strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

Longer-term bond yields were on course to fall for the third consecutive day. The 20-year JGB yield fell 2 basis points to 0.875%, and the 30-year JGB yield dropped 1.5 basis points to 1.225%.

The 40-year JGB yield fell the most, losing 4 basis points to 1.375%.

"Yesterday's solid 20-year auction set the stage for today's decline in long-term yields, but we'd like to wait for the result of next week's 40-year auction to confirm that the market has turned around," said MUFG Morgan Stanley's Inadome. (Reporting by Sam Byford and Tokyo markets team; Editing by Arun Koyyur)