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Global fears lift bonds, dollar mixed
Political concerns and unrest in the Mideast and India spark flight-to-safety Treasury buying.
May 17, 2004: 5:04 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. Treasurys rallied Monday, boosted by global security shocks that sent stock markets tumbling, and the dollar ended mixed against the euro and the Japanese yen.

News that a suicide car bombing killed Iraqi Governing Council President Izzedine Salim and of investors fleeing India's markets on political concerns were the headlines that moved the markets, prompting a worldwide retreat away from equity markets and into safe-haven debt.

At around 4:30 PM ET, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained 20/32 to 100-15/32 to yield 4.69 percent, down from 4.78 percent late Friday, and the 30-year bond added 27/32 to 99-8/32 to yield 5.42 percent, down from 5.49 percent late Friday.

The two-year note rose 4/32 to 99-18/32 to yield 2.47 percent and the five-year note rose 13/32 to yield 3.81 percent.

"It seems as though the whole dynamic is based on safe-haven flows," Mike Malpede, senior foreign exchange analyst at Refco in Chicago told Reuters. "It starts to give pause to what's going on there. It brings the news closer to home."

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Adding to anxieties over the geo-political situation, four small bombs exploded outside branches of British-based bank HSBC in Turkey Sunday night, hours before British Prime Minister Tony Blair was set to visit the country.

Treasury prices were also supported by worries that the relentless rise in energy prices could crowd out spending in other sectors of the economy and hamper U.S. economic expansion.

While bond prices lifted, the dollar erased some of last week's gains against the euro, but edged higher against the yen on Monday's news.

The euro bought $1.203, up from $1.188 late Friday and just off a 10-day high of $1.206 reached earlier Monday. The dollar bought ¥114.30 up from ¥114.25 late Friday.

The dollar recovered a bit after the U.S. army said sarin nerve agent was found in a shell in Iraq.

"Initially, it was dollar positive," Hugh Walsh, vice president of foreign exchange at Fortis Bank in New York, told Reuters. "I think the markets are waiting for more details. Where is it coming from? Who is supplying it?"

Walsh told the news agency that if the weapon predates the U.S. invasion of Iraq, it would help justify the military effort. But if it is a new weapon, it would signal a renewed security risk, possibly posing a downside risk for the dollar.  Top of page




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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.