US Treasury long bond yields fell on Friday in thin trading, in line with declines in the euro zone after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the central bank was prepared to do more to stimulate the sluggish euro zone economy. US government bonds took a cue from European markets, where Draghi's comments lifted euro zone debt and pushed yields on three of the region's countries, Ireland, Italy and Austria, to record lows.
Treasury bond prices, which move inversely to yields, rose despite gains in US stocks, which typically draw investors away from debt. Stocks rose as Draghi's comments and a surprise rate cut from China cheered investors worried about a slowdown in global growth. Draghi said there was now no sign of economic improvement in the months ahead, and the ECB would expand and step up its program to pump more money into the currency bloc if its current measures fell short of lifting inflation.
Meanwhile, China's rate cut, the first in more than two years, came as factory growth has stalled and the property market, long a pillar of growth, has remained weak. "It was a tale of two worlds," said Justin Lederer, Treasury analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York. "On the one hand, you have Draghi, and yields came off, and the market (prices) came off when China did what they did. So it has been a mixed reaction." In late trading, benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes were up 4/32 in price to yield 2.31 percent from 2.34 percent late Thursday.
David Keeble, global head of interest rate strategy at Credit Agricole in New York, said the common theme right now is still to buy Treasuries at certain levels. "Clients will set targets where they will buy Treasuries again when the yield hits 2.40 percent." US 30-year Treasury bonds were up 17/32 in price, with a yield of 3.02 percent, from 3.05 percent at the close on Thursday. Demand for long bonds has been underpinned by the low inflation environment, Cantor's Lederer said. Supply is heavy next week, with the US Treasury auctioning $28 billion in two-year notes, $13 billion in two-year floating rate notes, $35 billion in fives and $29 billion in sevens.
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