MW: Treasurys up as growth worries favor safe-havens
By Nick Godt, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Treasurys rallied Tuesday, sending yields on two-year notes near record lows, as worries over global growth pressured markets, leading investors to seek safe-haven assets.
The price of benchmark 10-year Treasurys (UST10Y 2.52, -0.08, -2.92%) rose, sending their yields 8 basis points lower to 2.521%.
Yields on two-year notes (UST2YR 0.47, -0.01, -2.49%) , which tend to move along with expectations for interest rates, fell 2 basis points to 0.462%, near a record low. Those on 30-year bonds (UST30Y 3.60, -0.06, -1.72%) , which reflect inflation expectations, slumped 6 basis points to 3.601%.
Treasurys rose Monday after the government met with good demand for its sale of 30-year inflation-indexed securities in the first major auction of the week. The Treasury is set to sell $37 billion in two-year notes later in Tuesday's session.
Last week, surprisingly weak economic data, including on U.S. joblessness, fueled a rally in bonds, while stocks fell as investors sought the relative safety of government debt.
The trend was on track to continue this week.
A report on U.S. existing-home sales for July will be released at 10 a.m. Eastern, with the market expecting a monthly decline.
Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, is due to speak at the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership community breakfast.
Investors also await Friday's second release of U.S. second-quarter gross-domestic-product data, with many fearing a sharp downward revision.
On Friday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is also expected to expand on the Fed's lowered economic outlook and on possible further actions to boost the slowing U.S. economy.
