TOKYO, March 29 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond

(JGB) yields drifted higher on Friday at the conclusion of the

country's fiscal year, while the yen's continued weakness drew

fresh warnings of intervention from the finance minister.

Yields on the longest-dated JGBs rose the most, reacting to

higher overseas yields overnight, and possibly some end-of-year

profit taking as investors closed their books, analysts said.

However, two-year yields declined following solid demand at

an auction of the securities.

The yen continued to hover near 152 per dollar, a level that

previously spurred yen-buying intervention to support it.

The currency weakened as far as 151.875 on Thursday,

sparking the sternest warning from Tokyo since the last

intervention in October 2022, with Finance Minister Shunichi

Suzuki threatening "decisive steps" to deal with excessive

declines.

Suzuki didn't repeat the phrase on Friday, but reiterated

officials were watching currency moves "with a high sense of

urgency", adding that the speed of moves rather than specific

levels were the ministry's focus.

The yen traded at 151.37 per dollar, little changed from

Thursday, as of 0600 GMT.

"MOF is pushed into corner, I think," Shoki Omori, chief

Japan desk strategist at Mizuho Securities said.

"Volatility is still low, so they are struggling to find a

good reason to intervene."

The 10-year JGB yield rose 2 basis points

(bps) to 0.725%, while benchmark 10-year JGB futures

fell 0.21 yen to end the day at 145.67. Bond yields rise when

prices fall.

The 30-year JGB yield advanced 4.5 bps to

1.810%.

The two-year yield, however, eased 1 bp to

0.175%.

The yen and JGB yields have continued to fall despite the

Bank of Japan's (BOJ) decision to exit negative interest rate

policy last week with its first rate hike since 2007.

"Bias towards higher yields in both shorter and longer

tenors remains, given the BOJ is likely going to hike rates

again this year," Mizuho's Omori said.

More strong U.S. economic data could also add pressure for

higher yields, as Treasury yields increase, he said. The Federal

Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the PCE deflator, is due

later on Friday.

Although Japanese officials may not welcome yen weakness,

equity investors have.

The Nikkei share average pushed to an all-time high

at 41,087.75 on Friday last week, and ended the quarter with its

biggest gain on record in absolute terms.

Japan's stock benchmark rallied 12,328 points over the

three-month period to close at 40,369.44, a more than 20% surge

that has far outpaced the 8.4% rise in the MSCI World index

.

(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)