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NEW YORK — Treasury prices advanced for the fourth straight day Friday, pushing yields lower, as investors pulled out of stocks and moved into safer investments.
The price of the benchmark 10-year note rose 11/32 to 102 11/32 and its yield fell to 3.34 percent from 3.38 percent late Thursday. The yield on the 10-year note is closely tied to rates on consumer loans such as mortgages.
Disappointing reports on durable goods orders and new home sales sent investors out of stocks amid renewed questions about the potential strength and length of any economic rebound.
Treasurys often move in the opposite direction as the stock market as investors will buy into safe government debt when they sell off stocks, which are considered riskier.
The Commerce Department on Friday said orders for goods expected to last at least three years fell 2.4 percent, after increasing 4.8 percent in July. Economists had been predicting an increase in orders.
New home sales in August also failed to meet expectations. The Commerce Department said sales rose to 429,000 last month from 426,000 in July and below the pace of 440,000 economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted.
Aside from the stock market's stumble in recent days, continued solid demand at auctions has helped support Treasury prices as they've moved higher throughout the week.
The government successfully auctioned $43 billion in two-year notes, $40 billion in five-year notes and $29 billion in seven-year notes earlier in the week.
In other trading, the price of the 30-year bond rose 1 4/32 to 106 21/32. Its yield fell to 4.11 percent from 4.17 percent.
The yield on the three-month T-bill rose to 0.10 percent from 0.09 percent.
The cost of borrowing between banks was flat. The British Bankers' Association said the rate on three-month loans in dollars — the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor — was unchanged at 0.28 percent.
