US Treasury bond prices lower ahead of holiday

Prices on US Treasury bonds were down slightly on Friday ahead of the three-day Labor Day weekend in the United States.

Yields on two-year treasury bonds were at 4.14 percent Friday while five-year issues were yielding 4.25 percent, ten-year yields were at 4.53 percent and thirty-year paper yielded 4.82 percent.

Bond prices were affect by comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who said that the Fed must take market disruptions into consideration when setting policy and that action will be taken if necessary to shield the economy from market turmoil.

Analysts disagreed on the meaning of his comments.

Some saw indications that an interest rate cut could be coming as soon as September, while other felt that the Fed’s main focus would remain on inflation and make a rate cut less likely.

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