By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — U.S. Treasurys drifted lower Monday, starting the week with a soft tone as investors awaited a meeting of Federal Reserve policy makers later in the week.
The price on 10-year Treasury notes 10_YEAR +2.32% fell 0.08 point to 98.14, pushing up the yield by 0.03 percentage point to 1.80%.
Two-year notes fell 0.02 point to 99.27, pushing up the yield 0.02 percentage point to 0.32%.
The 30-year Treasury bond 30_YEAR +0.95% fell 0.78 point to 95.29, pushing up the yield 0.01 percentage point to 2.95%.
“Markets will continue to be focused on [developments in the euro-zone] debt crisis this week, along with the outcome of the [Federal Open Market Committee] meeting on Tuesday-Wednesday,” wrote strategists at London brokerage Newedge, referring to the Fed’s policy-setting panel.
“As for the latter, we expect no material changes in the current policy stance. The FOMC statement will be closely watched though as the assessment on activity might change slightly, with the housing market giving further signs of strengthening in September and the unemployment rate falling sharply over the month,” they wrote.
The Fed in September announced the launch of a third round of quantitative easing, or QE3, in an effort to jump-start a moribund labor market. Analysts largely expect the Fed’s bond-buying program to continue to keep rates anchored.
William L. Watts is MarketWatch's European bureau chief, based in Frankfurt.
