Long Treasurys Lead Continued Safety Bid
Long-dated Treasurys rose on Friday as worries about the global economic outlook bolstered demand for safe assets.</br></br>The 10-year Treasury note climbed 13/32 to 99 14/32, pushing its yield down to 2.690%. The 30-year Treasury bond rose 30/32 to 100, leaving its yield at 3.875%. The five-year note rose 1/32 and yielded 1.462%, while the two-year note ended flat, for a yield of 0.545%.</br></br>Yields on the 10-year and 30-year Treasurys have dropped from 2.82% and 3.991%, respectively, at the end of last week. The market was led by strong gains in longer-dated issuance, while shorter-dated securities were little changed.</br></br>Concerns about the state of the global economy persist even as the euro zone's gross domestic product for the last quarter beat analysts' expectations, as U.S. retail sales rose 0.4% in July and as U.S. consumer sentiment improved.</br></br>The narrow gain in U.S. retail sales was driven by sales of cars and gasoline as demand fell at many other merchants. Consumer prices showed a moderate increase that matched economists' forecasts, pointing to tame price pressure and reducing a major threat to the fixed returns on bonds.