NEW YORK: The US Treasuries market rallied on Friday, with the 30-year yield hitting its lowest since the 1950s in a worldwide scramble for bonds on expectations of weak global growth and more policy stimulus from major central banks.
Trading volume was light in advance of a three-day weekend. The US bond market will close early at 2 p.m. (1800 GMT) and will stay shut on Monday for the July Fourth holiday.
Last week's stunning referendum vote by Britain to leave the European Union, or "Brexit," sparked a safe-haven stampede into Treasuries, which posted a 2.325 percent total return in June , according to an index compiled by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
US government debt booked its best month since January 2015, handily beating the 0.26 percent return on the Standard & Poor's 500 stocks.
"Brexit will have a significant impact on growth and rates globally," said Bruno Braizinha, interest rate strategist at SG Corporate & Investment Banking in New York.
Benchmark US 10-year Treasury notes were up 7/32 in price for a yield of 1.466 percent, down more than 2 basis points. Earlier, it nearly matched its record low of 1.381 percent.
US 30-year or long bond yield touched 2.189 percent in overseas trading earlier on Friday. This was the lowest level since the 1950s, Bank of America Merrill Lynch data showed.
The long bond was last up 1 point in price for a yield of 2.262 percent, down almost 5 basis points from late on Thursday.
Treasury prices trimmed gains after a gauge from the Institute for Supply Management on US manufacturing activity unexpectedly rose to its strongest level since February 2015.
Worries about Brexit's fallout on the UK economy led Bank of England Governor Mark Carney to say on Thursday that the central bank would probably need to inject more stimulus into Britain's economy over the summer.
French, Dutch, Irish and British 10-year government debt yields struck record lows.
Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer told CNBC television on Friday the US central bank is monitoring the impact of Brexit as the US economy has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks.
"The market is trying to front-run possible central bank actions," said Ed Al-Hussainy, a global rates and currency strategist at Columbia Threadneedle in Minneapolis.
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