NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Treasurys turned mostly higher Tuesday, even as investors inched back into equities, amid new reports of civil unrest in the Middle East.
At around 3:35 p.m. ET, the benchmark 10-year note rose 2/32 of a point to 102-11/32 to yield 3.72 percent, unchanged from late Monday. The 30-year bond fell 2/32 of a point to 110-23/32 to yield 4.67 percent, also unchanged from late in the previous session.
The two-year note held steady at 100-8/32, yielding 1.49 percent, and the five-year note picked up 1/32 of a point to 99-24/32 to yield 2.68 percent.
Israel's assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin sparked protests in Iraq as top Shiite clerics pledged allegiance to the Palestinians.
"The bond market has little to track other than the geopolitical developments and equities," Brian Robinson, an analyst at 4CAST, told Reuters.
"Although geopolitics cannot be dismissed entirely from a trading perspective, the impact on the capital markets is not expected to be long term."
Yields have tumbled since the government issued a weaker-than-expected payroll report for February in early March and have remained low following the train bombing in Madrid, a slumping stock market and Monday's assassination of Yassin.
Traders are keen to see if demand for government debt holds up amid the Treasury Department's auction of $26 billion in new two-year notes scheduled for Wednesday.
In the currency market, the dollar gained strength versus the euro but was flat against the yen.
"There's still a threat that the ECB could cut rates that undermines the euro. The fundamentals in the U.S. have deteriorated -- that undermines the dollar. So, it's trapped for the moment in a range," David Bloom, currency strategist at HSBC Markets, told Reuters.
"Because of the lack of economic direction and data at the moment the security issue has played a bit more of a role than it would normally. But if you look at the turning point for a lot of things it's the U.S. non-farm payrolls numbers, not anything else."
The euro bought $1.2318, down from $1.2333 late Monday, and the dollar bought ¥106.79, unchanged from late a day earlier.
--from staff and wire reports
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