By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices edged up Friday, as traders positioned themselves for the weekend’s Group of 20 meeting that’s expected to focus on the euro zone’s problems.
Yields on 10-year notes 10_YEAR -0.90% , which move inversely to prices, fell 2 basis points to 1.98%. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Thirty-year yields 30_YEAR -0.92% slipped 2 basis points to 3.11%.
Yields on 5-year notes 5_YEAR -0.45% declined 1 basis point to 0.88%.
The focus on rising oil prices is expected to mute any reaction to U.S. data on consumer confidence and new-home sales due later in the session.
“The market’s focus continues to be on energy, the strong performance of U.S. equities, and of course one eye on Europe,” said Bill O’Donnell, head of Treasury strategy at RBS Securities.
Crude-oil futures for April delivery CLJ2 +0.60% rose above $108 a barrel, after closing at a nine-month high in the prior session, amid concerns Iran’s output may decline. See story on crude oil futures.
Analysts also expect next week’s long-term liquidity operation from the European Central Bank to be as well-used as the last one in December that’s credited with relieving Europe’s banking system, boosting risky assets including stocks, the euro and peripheral sovereign debt.
Treasury yields remained in a tight range throughout the week even as the government sold $99 billion in short- and intermediate-term notes. Read about auction, corporate debt sales.
Ten-year yields have slipped from 2.01% a week ago.
Thirty-year yields are down from 3.16% and 5-year yields are near the 0.87% level they saw last Friday.
“The Treasury market remains remarkably range-bound, giving up ground only for the process of accommodating this week’s supply events,” said analysts at CRT Capital Group.
The good demand seen for 5-year and 7-year notes 7_YEAR +0.93% and the lack of any auctions next week “has cleared the way for Treasurys to reestablish the grinding bid that has 10-year yields back below 2%.”
