(Updates yields, adds analyst comment in paragraphs 3 and 6)

By Satoshi Sugiyama

TOKYO, April 6 (Reuters) - Benchmark Japanese government

bond (JGB) yields rose to a fresh 27-year high on Monday, as

investors fretted about inflationary pressures from the Middle

East war, while a strong U.S. jobs report reduced expectations

for an early interest rate cut.

The benchmark 10-year JGB yield rose 3 basis

points (bps) to 2.410%, the highest since February 1999. Yields

move inversely to bond prices.

"Ongoing instability in the Middle East is continuing to

fuel concerns, and last Friday's strong U.S. payrolls data

pushed up U.S. yields, so that was also a factor" in Monday's

JGB moves, said Lisa Mochizuki, an analyst at SMBC Nikko

Securities.

The two-year yield, the one most sensitive to

Bank of Japan policy rates, increased 1 bp to 1.395%, a fresh

31-year high. The five-year yield rose 2 bps to

1.815%.

The 20-year JGB yield climbed 6 bps

to 3.325%, while the 30-year and 40-year maturities were yet to

be traded, as of 0133 GMT.

Longer-term bonds are likely to face more selling pressure

ahead of Tuesday's 30-year bond auction, Mochizuki said.

U.S. President Donald Trump ratcheted up pressure on Iran,

threatening in an expletive-laden Easter Sunday social media

post to target Iran's power plants and bridges on Tuesday if the

strategic Strait of Hormuz is not reopened, pushing oil prices

higher.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose more than expected last month and

the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, data released on Friday

showed, bolstering expectations the Federal Reserve will keep

interest rates steady as it assesses growth, inflation and the

economic fallout from the war with Iran.

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)