TOKYO: US Treasuries edged up in Asia on Thursday, as a delay in securing another bailout package for Greece kept concerns about a possible default alive and underpinned safe-haven demand for bonds.
A three-hour teleconference between euro zone finance ministers failed to reach a conclusion on a second Greek aid package, putting off any decision until Monday at the earliest.
Athens needs to secure funds to meet a huge amount of bond redemptions on March 20 and avoid a chaotic default.
"Stocks and bonds both had good months in January, leading investors to wonder which trend will continue. But for now, stocks have corrected on the Greek developments, to the benefit of bonds," said a trader at a Japanese bank.
The yield on the 10-year note eased to 1.91 percent from 1.93 percent in late US trade.
The yield on 30-year Treasuries inched down to 3.07 percent from 3.09 percent in US trading.
Data released by Japan's finance ministry on Thursday showed Japanese investors increased their net foreign bond buying to 1.0083 trillion yen ($12.87 billion) in the latest week, their sixth straight week of net purchases.
Minutes of the Fed's Jan. 24-25 meeting released on Wednesday showed the few Fed officials who believed more asset purchases could be warranted soon pointed to the prospect for continued high unemployment and a lack of inflation pressure.
Others thought more bond buying would be necessary only if the recovery lost momentum or if inflation dipped.
US data on Wednesday undermined demand for bonds. While industrial output was unexpectedly flat in January, the second straight month of gains in manufacturing indicated underlying strength in the economy.
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