TOKYO: US Treasuries inched down in Asia on Wednesday as the market sought to digest details about the euro zone's new lending facility as well as proposals to expand funding for the IMF so it can lend to nations such as Italy.
Ten-year notes inched down 3/32 in price to yield 1.99 percent, compared with 1.98 percent in late US trade.
European finance ministers agreed to strengthen a rescue fund for countries with funding difficulties and said they are consulting the IMF about more aid as bond yields surge across the region.
"There is some positive news such as the agreement to extend further aid payments to Greece but they did not give details about the size of their rescue fund. People can't move decisively without details," said Hiroki Shimazu, senior market economist at SMBC Nikko Securities.
US bond prices slipped on Tuesday as hopes of decisive measures to deal with the euro-zone crisis coupled with signs of stronger US consumption during the Thanksgiving weekend encouraged investors to look for higher-yielding alternatives to Treasuries.
Tokyo-based analysts said yields below 2 percent on 10-year notes are out of line with US economic fundamentals, but they expected the upside to be limited as euro zone woes are set to be prolonged.
Ten-year yields have been locked in a range of 15 basis points on either side of 2 percent since the beginning of November as investors monitor developments in Europe.
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