NEW YORK: US Treasury debt prices climbed on Monday as investors sought the safety of government bonds while global equities fell, led by financials on news on Deutsche Bank that dragged its shares to record lows.
Prices also rose on caution ahead of the first US presidential debate between candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, analysts said.
Long-dated yields, which move inversely to prices, fell to three-week lows, while two-year note yields slid to two-week troughs.
"A lot of the gains in Treasuries are safe-haven trades," said Kim Rupert, managing director for fixed income at Action Economics in San Francisco.
"We've had bullish momentum ever since the Federal Reserve decided to maintain its policy stance. Stocks are also looking pretty weak with a lot of concerns about financials with Deutsche Bank."
The German bank has been fighting a $14 billion demand from the US Department of Justice to settle a mortgage mis-selling case.
German magazine Focus reported over the weekend that Chancellor Angela Merkel had met Deutsche Bank Chief Executive John Cryan over the summer and indicated he could expect no help from Berlin in resolving the bank's dispute with the US Department of Justice.
Deutsche Bank, however, said on Monday it did not require assistance from Berlin and had not requested it.
US benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were last up 7/32 in price, yielding 1.589 percent, down from 1.615 percent late on Friday. Earlier on Monday, yields fell to 1.574 percent, a three-week low.
US 10-year yields briefly rose above 1.6 percent after data showed new US single-family home sales fell less than expected in August even as prices declined and inventories rose.
US 30-year bond prices rose 8/32 in price, yielding 2.325 percent, down from 2.339 percent on Friday. Yields earlier slid to a three-week low of 2.308 percent.
On the front end of the curve, US two-year notes were flat in price for a yield of 0.741 percent, down from 0.754 percent late on Friday. Earlier, yields touched a two-week trough of 0.738 percent.
The US two-year auction on Monday showed mixed results, with a yield of 0.75 percent, compared with 0.755 percent before the 1 p.m. (1300 EST) deadline.
The 0.75 percent yield was a little more expensive than the previous US two-year offerings. Bids totaled nearly $69 billion, for a 2.65 bid-to-cover ratio, a bit below August's 2.83 and the 2.86 average.
Indirect bidders, consisting primarily of major central banks, took 36.7 percent, down from 45.8 percent previously and the 45.6 percent average.
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