Although market reaction to the Abe scandal has so far been limited, market players say more signs of trouble for the government will likely dent expectations that he will win his third term as the head of the ruling party and thus prime minister later this year and continue his aggressive stimulus.

The price of June 10-year JGB futures were down 0.02 point at 150.67 in early afternoon trade while benchmark cash 10-year JGBs were untraded.

The 20-year JGB yield ticked up 0.5 basis point to 0.535 percent while the 30-year yield rose 0.5 basis point to 0.760 percent.

The result of a 2.2 trillion yen five-year JGB auction was in line with market expectations, with the highest accepted yield at minus 0.106 percent.