MW: Treasurys rise more, dollar pares loss on Bernanke
By Deborah Levine
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Treasury prices extended gains Friday, pushing yields lower, and the dollar briefly pared its fall, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke put off a lengthy discussion of the easing options available to the central bank until the next policy-setting meeting late next month. In a speech, he said it was still difficult to judge how recent stock-market weakness, debt-ceiling negotiations and the European debt crisis had impacted the economy. The Fed does expect "a moderate recovery" to continue and strengthen, he said. The dollar index DXY -0.16% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, traded at 74.062, up from 73.938 before the speech but still down from 74.262 in North American trading late Thursday. The euro EURUSD +0.04% pared gains slightly to $1.4413, from $1.4425 but still up versus $1.4379 Thursday. Yields on 10-year notes 10_YEAR -3.71% which move inversely to prices, fell 10 basis points to 2.13%, after being down 7 basis points before the speech. Bernanke's comments also followed a report showing U.S. consumer sentiment rose slightly this month.
