By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) —Treasury prices rose Tuesday, pushing 10-year yields back under 2%, as yields on more European countries rose as investors dumped the securities due to continuing uncertainty about the euro zone.
Yields on 10-year notes 10_YEAR -2.81% , which move inversely to prices, fell basis points to 2%, after dipping to 1.99% in U.S. morning activity. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Thirty-year yields 30_YEAR -2.06% fell 6 basis points to 3.04%.
Yields on 2-year notes 2_YEAR 0.00% declined 1 basis point to 0.23%.
Yields of Spanish, French and Italy debt rose as yields on safe-haven German bund yields fell, widening the gap between them that’s seen as a measure of investor’s willingness to take on riskier assets. Read about Spanish, Italian bonds in Currencies.
European economic data also came in weak, showing how the sovereign debt crisis is weighing on economic activity. Read about euro zone growth.
The Treasury market rose “on a combination of weak European confidence data and widening peripheral spreads,’ said David Ader, head of government bond strategy at CRT Capital Group.
“What a statement the markets are making to, just after new governments and austerity measures in Greece and Italy, find virtually ALL of non-German Europe wider ... new wides, in fact,” he wrote in a note.
Bonds held onto gains after a report showed U.S. retail sales rose 0.5% in October, more than expected. Read more about retail sales.
Separate data showed producer prices slipped 0.3% last month and a measure of manufacturing activity in the New York area was much better than forecast. See story on wholesale prices.
Deborah Levine is a MarketWatch reporter, based in New York.
