BLBG:Treasury Notes Rise as French Poll Sparks Debt Concern
Treasury notes rose a fourth day on concern the euro-area debt crisis will persist amid political uncertainty after the first round of French elections ended with President Nicolas Sarkozy trailing his Socialist rival.
Yields have fallen for five weeks, pushing the rate to within 27 basis points of the record low, as some indicators showed a slowing in the economy and Europe’s fiscal crisis drove demand for the relative safety of U.S. debt. Sarkozy and Socialist challenger Francois Hollande made it to the final round of France’s presidential elections.
Benchmark 10-year yields fell two basis points to 1.94 percent at 8:17 a.m. London time, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. The 2 percent note due February 2022 rose 7/32, or $2.19 dollars per $1,000-dollar face amount, to 100 17/32. The record low yield was 1.67 percent set Sept. 23.
Notes also rose after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte failed to reach an agreement with one of the parties in his coalition over austerity measures.
To contact the reporters on this story: Wes Goodman in Singapore at wgoodman@bloomberg.net; Keith Jenkins in London at kjenkins3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net
