JGB 10-yr futures steady after touching 3-mth low

TOKYO, Nov 6 - Lead 10-year Japanese government bond futures briefly touched a three-month low on Friday hurt by a rise in Tokyo share prices and the previous day's weak 10-year auction.

* Lead December 10-year JGB futures hit a three-month low of 137.47 at one point. They later trimmed their losses to stand at 137.60, steady on the day.

* The benchmark 303rd 10-yr JGB yield edged up 0.5 basis point to 1.450 percent, after briefly touching a three-month high of 1.455 percent in early trade.

* The rise in the 10-year yield came after the previous day's 10-year JGB auction was met with weak demand, as investors shied away from the newly auctioned debt due to worries about the size of debt issuance for the rest of the fiscal year and next year.

* The fact that JGBs have not rebounded much after Thursday's 10-year auction suggests investors may be waiting for the market to settle down before buying JGBs, said Akito Fukunaga, a fixed-income strategist for Credit Suisse.

* One focal point for JGBs in the near term will be next week's auctions of 40-year bonds and five-year notes. Given how Thursday's 10-year JGB auction turned out, there could be concerns about the level of demand at such forthcoming auctions as well, said Fukunaga at Credit Suisse.

* The Ministry of Finance is due to increase the monthly issuance amount of five-year JGBs by 100 billion yen ($1.10 billion) to 2.4 trillion yen starting with next week's auction.

* Japan's benchmark Nikkei share average rose 1.3 percent.