Treasurys dip in midday trade

Rising stocks and concerns about swelling supply push prices for government debt lower.

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By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer

Is President Obama right to say stocks may be a good long-term investment?
  • Yes, prices are low enough to buy
  • No, the market will be down for a long time

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Treasury prices fell Wednesday as stocks rallied worldwide and investors remain concerned about record amounts of debt coming to the market.

China's benchmark index jumped more than 6% on upbeat economic data and the government's expanded fiscal spending plan. Major European stock indexes ended up between 3.8% and 5.4%.

U.S. indexes were more than 2% higher at midday after ending the previous session at their lowest levels in nearly 12 years.

Treasury notes are considered one of the most secure assets available and investors often buy them in droves when stock prices fall. When stock prices rise, however, Treasurys typically retreat as investors seek out higher returns in more risky assets.

Meanwhile, the Treasury Department is set to announce on Friday the details of auctions to be held next week. Last week, the government auctioned off a record $93 billion in 2-, 5- and 7-year notes.

The auctions come as the U.S. government is set to pay $787 billion for stimulus, $700 billion for the bank bailout and trillions more in various liquidity programs.

As the government floods the market with supply, investors worry that prices will continue to fall. At the same time, increased government spending has some analysts concerned about inflation, which erodes the value of fixed-income investments.

Treasury prices: The benchmark 10-year note was down 1-2/32 to 97-24/32 and its yield rose to 3.02% from 2.94% late Monday.

The 30-year bond slid 1-28/32 to 96-5/32 and yielded 3.7%.

The 2-year note fell 5/32 to 99-27/32 with a yield of 0.97%.

Lending rates: The 3-month Libor rate rose to 1.28% from 1.27% Tuesday, according to data on Bloomberg.com. The overnight Libor rate eased to 0.31% from 0.32%.

Libor, the London Interbank Offered Rate, is a daily average of rates that 16 different banks charge each other to lend money in London.

Two key gauges reflected tighter credit. The "TED" spread widened to 1.02 percentage points from 99.93 percentage point Tuesday. The wider the TED spread, the less willing investors are to take risks.

The Libor-OIS spread widened to 1.03 percentage point from 1.02 percentage point. The wider the spread, the less cash is available for lending. To top of page

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