NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Treasuries fell on Friday as positive comments from German officials about Greece winning an elusive rescue package encouraged selling of safe-haven U.S. government debt.

Prices of benchmark 10-year notes were down 9/32, their yields rising to 2.01 percent.

Ten-year yields above 2 percent have recently drawn buyers so traders had said losses in Treasuries could be limited, particularly before a three-day holiday weekend. The U.S. bond market will be shut on Monday for U.S. Presidents Day holiday.

“The primary reason for the moves is, once again, news from overseas,” said Kevin Flanagan, executive director and fixed-income strategist at Morgan Stanley. “There’s a growing sense Greece will ultimately get a deal and heading into the long weekend, shorts have been covered.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italy’s Mario Monti and caretaker Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos all expressed optimism over an accord during a three-way conference call, Monti’s office said. German officials have been especially skeptical over previous Greek austerity proposals to bring its debt down.

Bailout funds will be disbursed only after a debt restructuring occurs. Greece needs the funds before March 20, when it must pay back debt worth 14.5 billion euros.

After falling on Thursday, partly on prospects for Greece, 30-year bonds were down 6/32, pushing their yields up to 3.15 percent.

NEW YORK, Feb 17 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasuries fell on Friday as the likelihood of a rescue package for Greece favored riskier assets over safe-haven U.S. government debt.

On Wall Street, stocks edged up as Treasury prices fell, allowing their yields to rise.

Prices of benchmark 10-year notes were down 13/32, their yields rising above 2 percent to 2.03 percent. Ten-year yields above 2 percent have recently drawn buyers so traders said losses in Treasuries could be limited, particularly before a three-day holiday weekend. The U.S. bond market will be shut Monday for Presidents Day.

European leaders were optimistic an agreement can be reached on Greece at Monday’s Eurogroup meeting, the Italian prime minister’s office said. Bailout funds will be disbursed only after a debt restructuring occurs. Greece needs the funds before March 20, when it must pay back debt worth 14.5 billion euros.

After falling on Thursday, partly on hopes for a Greece deal, 30-year bonds were down 19/32, pushing their yields up to 3.17 percent.

In contrast, riskier assets did better as optimism about Greece bolstering investor sentiment. Stock indexes rose about 0.2 percent in morning trade.

The same advantage for riskier assets played out in the euro zone debt market. Italian and Spanish sovereign debt yields dropped while safe-haven German government bonds came under pressure. Bund futures fell 68 ticks.

NEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Another sign of improvement in the U.S. labor market and hopes Greece had secured a second bailout package weakened demand for safe-haven U.S. government debt on Thursday, pushing prices lower.

U.S. Treasuries slipped early in the session after a new drop in new U.S. jobless claims offered another sign of labor market improvement. The data affirmed the economy was enjoying at least a modest recovery and encouraged investors to move into riskier assets like stocks.

Euro zone officials said a Greek bailout should be approved on Monday, further weakening demand for safety.

Prices of benchmark 10-year notes were down 21/32 near midday, their yields at 2 percent. Thirty-year bonds slid 1-7/32; their yields rose to 3.15 percent.

Still, analysts said the drop in new jobless claims to a near four-year low was the dominant influence.

“It’s mostly that jobless claims were lower than expected,” said Eric Stein, vice president and portfolio manager at Eaton Vance Management in Boston.

A rise in housing starts in January and an increase in the core producer price index, which excludes food and energy items, were also slightly bearish for bonds.

NEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasuries slipped on Thursday after the government reported a drop in jobless claims, a rise in housing starts, and a bigger than forecast rise in core producer prices, all marginally bearish for bonds.

Jobless claims fell to a near four-year low in the latest week and housing starts rose more than expected in January, though groundbreaking on single-family units fell 1.0 percent, the government said.

Overall producer prices rose less than forecast, but the core producer price index, which excludes food and energy items, rose 0.4 percent due to a 2 percent rise in drug prices.

Benchmark 10-year notes, unchanged before the data were released, were down 5/32 afterwards, yielding 1.95 percent. Thirty year bonds, up 6/32 before the data, were down 3/32 afterwards, yielding 3.10 percent.

The most bond bearish news however, was the Labor Department’s weekly report showing new jobless claims fell to their lowest in nearly four years to a seasonally adjusted 348,000, down 13,000 from the prior week.

The weekly claims data was the “highlight” of the strong U.S. data, said Alan Ruskin, head of G10 currency strategy at Deutsche Bank in New York, supporting the view that payrolls can grown by 200,000 per month, the “‘lift-off’ pace for self-sustaining growth.”

Markets might have reacted more strongly to the “Goldilocks” data were it not for the “wolf still knocking at Europe’s door,” said Ruskin, evoking images from two Grimm’s fairy tales.

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasuries prices rose slightly on Wednesday, extending a narrow trading range tied to stock market movements and the latest developments in Greece’s attempts to secure a second bailout.

In morning trade, benchmark 10-year notes were last up 1/32 in price, yielding 1.93 percent.

“Greek headlines seem to be a dominant theme,” said David Ader, head of government bond strategy at CRT Capital Group in Stamford, Connecticut.

Early in the session, news that euro-zone officials were considering delaying all or part of a financial bailout package for Greece briefly pressured riskier assets and aided safe-haven U.S. debt.

Treasuries and safe-haven German debt futures have been sensitive to signals from the Greece bailout process.

Pledges from Greek Conservative party leader Antonis Samaras to commit to tough austerity measures looked positive for the bailout financing, weighing slightly on Treasuries.

“The Greek bailout continues to hog the headlines,” but the variety of signals left Treasuries “pretty close to home,” said William O’Donnell, head of U.S. rates strategy at RBS in Stamford, Connecticut.

NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Treasuries prices rose on Tuesday as weaker than forecast U.S. retail sales data and lower stock prices helped sustained the popularity of safe-haven U.S. government debt.

The S&P 500 index retreated from near a seven-month high after weaker-than-expected January U.S. retail sales data curbed investors’ appetite for risky assets. The data added to concerns linked to Moody’s ratings cuts on six euro-zone countries late Monday.

The Bank of Japan also boosted its asset buying program by $130 billion to promote growth. It set a goal of 1 percent consumer price inflation to pull the economy out of deflation.

“These are relatively supportive developments from a flight-to-quality persepctive,” said Ian Lyngen, government bond stragtegist at CRT Capital.

Benchmark 10-year Treasuries notes rose 8/32 in price, their yields easing to 1.95 percent from 1.98 percent late on Monday. Thirty-year bond prices rose 18/32 in price, their yields easing to 3.09 percent from 3.12 percent late on Monday.

GREECE’S DEBT CRISIS

The Greek debt epic, despite lawmakers’ approval of severe austerity measures on Sunday, still retains themes that are “bullish for the Treasury market,” said Lyngen.

NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Treasuries prices rose on Tuesday as weaker than forecast U.S. retail sales data and lower stock prices helped sustained the popularity of safe-haven U.S. government debt.

The S&P 500 index retreated from near a seven-month high after weaker-than-expected January U.S. retail sales data curbed investors’ appetite for risky assets. The data added to concerns linked to Moody’s ratings cuts on six euro-zone countries late Monday.

The Bank of Japan also boosted its asset buying program by $130 billion to promote growth. It set a goal of 1 percent consumer price inflation to pull the economy out of deflation.

“These are relatively supportive developments from a flight-to-quality persepctive,” said Ian Lyngen, government bond stragtegist at CRT Capital.

Benchmark 10-year Treasuries notes rose 8/32 in price, their yields easing to 1.95 percent from 1.98 percent late on Monday. Thirty-year bond prices rose 18/32 in price, their yields easing to 3.09 percent from 3.12 percent late on Monday.

GREECE’S DEBT CRISIS

The Greek debt epic, despite lawmakers’ approval of severe austerity measures on Sunday, still retains themes that are “bullish for the Treasury market,” said Lyngen.

NEW YORK, Feb 10 (Reuters) – U.S. government debt prices jumped on Friday as fear Greece might not avoid a messy default brought the safe-haven bid for U.S. debt back into vogue.

Demands for steeper fiscal cuts from Greece’s creditors rekindled fear that Greece would not be able to grow enough to pay its creditors, both private and public.

The pre-weekend scramble for Treasuries reversed the previous day’s decline on optimism that Greece would soon receive a second bailout. That expectation pushed the 30-year bond yield to its highest levels since late October.

“It’s all about Greek headlines now. Markets (see) another face-off and generally speaking, investors don’t like being short Treasuries when these things are going on,” said David Keeble, global head of interest rates strategy at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank in New York.

In the latest development, Eurogroup chair Jean-Claude Juncker set three conditions for Greece to receive a second bailout worth 130 billion euros ($170 billion).

Juncker said the Greek parliament must ratify the package when it meets on Sunday and a further 325 million euros of spending reductions must be identified by Wednesday, after which euro zone finance ministers would meet again.

Finally, Juncker said, the leaders of the coalition parties must give strong political assurances that the program will be implemented.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Treasuries prices slipped on Friday as a more upbeat view of the economy and reports Greece was near a deal with its private-sector creditors removed some of the impetus for buying safe-haven U.S. government debt.

Greece and its private-sector creditors are converging toward a debt swap deal that would cause a loss of 65 to 70 percent for private bondholders, a banking official close to the talks told Reuters on Friday.

News that U.S. sales of existing homes in December were slightly lower than forecast had no impact, but recent upbeat data on the economy have been negative for Treasuries.

“The back-up in the U.S. Treasury yields seems due to a combination of developments beginning with yesterday’s jobless claims figures (which showed a sharp drop in the newly jobless) and reports that the Greek negotiations with private sector investors may yield results after all,” said Kevin Flanagan, chief fixed-income strategist and managing director at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

Benchmark 10-year notes fell 8/32, their yields rising to 2.01 percent from 1.97 percent late on Thursday. Those losses were in line with slippage in German bunds, another safe-haven asset. Bund futures slipped 83 ticks to 138.12.

Thirty-year bonds fell 25/32, their yields rising to 3.08 percent from 3.03 percent late on Thursday.

A banking official close to the Greek debt talks told Reuters the new bond Greece would issue to its private-sector creditors would likely have a 30-year maturity, a grace period of 10 years, and a stepped-up coupon structure that would average about 4 percent.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Treasuries prices slipped on Wednesday as the prospect of the IMF raising more funds to ease the euro zone debt crisis and higher-than-forecast earnings from Goldman Sachs boosted riskier assets like stocks and depressed demand for safe-haven U.S. government debt.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fourth-quarter profit fell 56 percent but the investment firm beat Wall Street expectations by cutting costs and taxes, pushing its shares 6 percent higher. U.S. banks focused on business and consumer lending did better in the fourth quarter, reporting increased demand for loans from businesses.

The International Monetary Fund estimates it needs to raise $600 billion in new resources to lend to countries to help them with the repercussions of the euro zone debt crisis, IMF sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

The IMF reports weighed slightly on Treasuries prices, said David Ader, head government bond strategist at CRT Capital Group in Stamford, Connecticut.

Meanwhile, stocks and bond yields moved in lock-step, with yields rising along with stocks.

“The contour of the last five or 20 days on a minute-to-minute basis is that you see Treasury yields go down when stocks go down and go up when stock prices go up,” said Robert Tipp, chief investment strategist for Prudential Fixed Income with $240 billion in assets under management.

But other factors are at work, he said.