TOKYO: US 10-year Treasury bond prices rose on Monday, pushing down yields, as continuing concerns about global growth increased the appeal of safe-haven fixed-income assets.
Data released early Monday showed Japan's economy expanded at 0.3 percent in the April-June quarter at half the pace expected, dragged down in part by Europe's debt crisis.
That data came in the wake of China's disappointing trade figures on Friday.
The European Central Bank is expected to take action, perhaps by next month, to help contain Spain's and Italy's burgeoning borrowing costs as the debt crisis continues to take a toll on the region. The euro zone will release its second quarter gross domestic product reading on Tuesday, which is expected to show a contraction.
Even Germany's economy has stalled, and some economists fear it could fall into recession in the second half of this year.
"We've priced in a lot of bad news, but how much can you price in? At the end of the day, the US market is going to be fairly dominated by domestic considerations," said a trader at a European securities firm in Tokyo.
On the US data front this week, July retail sales are expected to rise 0.3 percent, and consumer prices are expected to gain 0.2 percent. Worse-than-expected figures would add to expectations that the US Federal Reserve will act to stimulate the economy.
The Fed took no new monetary steps at meeting earlier this month, but was more downbeat on the economy, which kept alive market hopes for more bond purchases by the central bank.
Yields on ten-year Treasuries fell to 1.6420 percent from 1.657 percent in late US trading on Friday, moving back toward their record low of 1.38 percent hit on July 25.
Thirty-year bond yields slipped to 2.735 percent from 2.746 percent in Friday's late US trade.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.