Yields on Japanese government bonds edged higher on Thursday, in line with moves in the U.S. Treasury market as demand for haven assets waned amid encouraging news about the efficacy of existing coronavirus vaccines against the Omicron strain. Pfizer and partner BioNTech said on Wednesday their three-shot course of the vaccine was able to neutralise the new variant in a laboratory test, and they could deliver an upgraded vaccine in March 2022 if needed. read more The five-year JGB yield rose 1 basis point to minus 0.085%. An auction of the securities went smoothly, although demand was lower than the prior sale. The 40-year yield rose 1 basis point to 0.715%. Benchmark 10-year JGB futures fell 0.04 point to 152.03, with a trading volume of 14,140 lots, although 10-year cash JGB yields ended flat at 0.045%, giving up slight gains from earlier in the day. "After yields adjusted higher in the morning session, it became easier for JGBs to attract a bid, with some parts of the yield curve looking a bit cheap," said a market participant at a domestic securities company. The 20-year yield eased 0.5 basis point to 0.450%. Yields on the 30-year and two-year JGBs were flat at 0.670% and minus 0.115%, respectively. Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.