NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. Treasury prices edged lower Friday as stock markets appeared to take a breather after Thursday's big plunge, lessening the attraction of bonds as a safe haven for weary investors.
The 30-year benchmark Treasury fell 15/32 in price while the yield rose to 5.37 percent, after ending at a record low close Thursday in U.S. trading.
Meanwhile, with world stock markets reeling, highlighted by a 4.19 percent drop in the Dow Jones industrial average, U. S. economic data is playing second fiddle in the bond market.
While Japan's Nikkei index fell to a 12-year low Friday, stocks in Asia's largest market still mustered a rebound from their lows late in the day. Europe also pared its early losses.
The bond gets a double benefit from a stronger dollar: Prices of imports from Japan drop, lowering inflationary pressure, while investors flock to the relative stability of dollar-denominated securities.
But for officials at the Federal Reserve Bank, deflation now may be more of a concern. Commodity prices, as reflected in the key CRB-Bridge futures index, fell to a 21-year low.
As a key bond market focus, the stock market turmoil even offset a recent slide in the U.S. dollar versus the Japanese yen. The dollar gained slightly Friday, up 1.45 yen at 144.20 to the dollar.
The dollar also rebounded off 3-month lows against the Swiss franc, which often acts as a refuge for market-weary investors.
Trading in the Russian ruble, which has plummeted against the dollar this week and forced the Russian central bank to abandon its support for the currency, didn't open Friday.
The German mark has wavered alongside the turmoil in Russia amid questions about Boris Yeltsin's rule and whether the nation can stem its crisis. The mark was up about 3/4 of a pfennig at 1.7885 to the dollar Friday.
Americans took in more money and pocketed it instead of spending it last month. U.S. personal incomes rose at a faster-than-expected 0.5 percent, but personal spending fell 0.2 percent, while economists expected a slight gain. 
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