Business & Finance

Bonds slip slightly in Asia; US debt ceiling in focus

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Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives scheduled a vote on Wednesday on a nearly four-month extension of US federal borrowing limit.

 

A stand-off about raising the ceiling in mid-2011 prompted Standard & Poor's to downgrade its US credit rating.

 

Fears of a prolonged argument on raising the $16.4 trillion limit have prompted some investors to buy Treasuries in recent weeks whenever yields rose on any signs of economic improvement.

 

"US yields are moving in a relatively narrow range lately, trapped between these factors," said Tomohisa Fujiki, interest rate strategist for BNP Paribas in Tokyo.

 

Yields on 10-year Treasuries rose to 1.864 percent in Asian trade on Tuesday, from 1.845 percent in late US trade on Friday. US financial markets were closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

 

Yields on 30-year Treasuries rose to 3.051 percent, from 3.031 percent on Friday.

Copyright Reuters, 2013