Treasuries rose, pushing yields toward a three-week low, as stock losses and violence in Libya bolstered demand for the safest assets. Sovereign bonds around the world trimmed losses from earlier this month after Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi vowed to fight an uprising in his nation, which holds Africa’s largest oil reserves. The Fed is scheduled to buy $4 billion to $6 billion of Treasuries due from August 2012 to August 2013, while the government plans to auction seven-year notes. “People are looking at the Middle East and North Africa, and that caused a flight to safety,” said Satoshi Okumoto, a general manager in Tokyo at Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Co., which has the equivalent of $68 billion in assets. Fukoku hasn’t joined in the buying, he said. The yield on the 10-year note fell two basis points to 3.47 percent as of 6:06 a.m. in London, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The 3.625 percent security due in February 2021 rose 5/32, or $1.56 per $1,000 face amount, to 101 10/32. The rate declined to 3.43 percent yesterday, the lowest since Feb. 2. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of shares gave up an initial gain to slide 0.6 percent, a fourth day of losses. An index of government bonds around the world has gained 0.5 percent in the week that ended yesterday, based on Bank of America Merrill Lynch data. The gauge is still down 0.1 percent for the month. The MSCI All Country World Index of stocks has dropped 2.1 percent in the past seven days, after accounting for reinvested dividends, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. To contact the reporter on this story: Wes Goodman in Singapore at wgoodman@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net.

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