Treasury prices mixed ahead of auctions this week

NEW YORK — Treasury prices were mixed Monday as investors prepared for three upcoming auctions and stocks mostly slipped.

Longer-term Treasurys were modestly lower while short-term notes inched higher.

In late trading, the price of the benchmark 10-year note fell 6/32 to 101 5/32 and its yield rose to 3.49 percent from 3.46 percent late Friday. The yield on the 10-year note is closely tied to rates on consumer loans such as mortgages.

The Treasury Department is set to sell $112 billion of notes this week, including $43 billion in two-year notes, $40 billion in five-year notes and $29 billion in seven-year notes.

Investors’ appetite for Treasurys has been strong in recent weeks despite long-term concerns that the government’s record-setting pace of debt issuance to help stimulate the economy could overwhelm the market. The government might be forced to increase yields on Treasurys, which would send prices lower, if investor demand starts to wane.

Recent sales have produced strong demand, which has helped support prices at the expense of yields. However, Treasurys will often fall ahead of an auction, allowing investors to get a better price and yield at new auctions.

Stocks mostly fell Monday led by a decline in energy and material companies, which were hurt by falling commodity prices. A pause in the market’s six-month surge is considered normal as investors take some profits.

Treasurys often move in the opposite direction of stocks. Typically, as investors sell out of stocks, they will move their money into the relative safety of government debt.

In other trading, the two-year note rose 1/32 to 100, while its yield fell to 0.99 percent from 1.01 percent.

The price of the 30-year bond fell 8/32 to 104 15/32. Its yield rose to 4.24 percent from 4.22 percent.

The yield on the three-month T-bill rose to 0.09 percent from 0.07 percent. Its discount rate was 0.1 percent.

The cost of borrowing between banks held steady. The British Bankers’ Association said the rate on three-month loans in dollars — the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor — was unchanged at 0.29 percent.