U.S. government debt prices rose on Friday as investors digested the release of September manufacturing activity and comments from Fed speakers.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, was last lower at 1.6176 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was near 2.3383 percent.
The September read on the Markit Manufacturing Flash PMI came in at 51.4, below the August read of 52.0. IHS Markit, the firm that released the data, said that the September number marked seven years of continuous growth in manufacturing, but that the "headline index was below the average seen over this period (54.0) and remained close to the post-crisis low recorded in May (50.7)."
The data was released after the euro zone PMI showed that business activity in the 19-country region fell to 52.6 in September versus 52.9 in August and below market expectations.
"After falling into contraction in August as measured by the ISM survey, the September data looks no better. The NY and Philly manufacturing indices seen last week imply another below 50 print and this Markit report reflects relatively stagnant activity," said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group.
Treasurys
The U.S. central bank's policy is "not as accommodative as people would think, Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said at a Texas Oil and Gas Association meeting in Houston.
Earlier on Friday, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said interest rates should be raised gradually now. He also warned that the U.S. economic recovery could be derailed if the unemployment rate dropped below sustainable levels.
Oil prices fell on Friday after reports that Saudi Arabia did not expect an agreement among major crude exporters aimed at freezing production at a meeting next week. Brent crude traded at $45.75 a barrel on Friday, down about 4 percent, as U.S. crude also fell 4.21 percent to $44.37 a barrel.
— Reuters contributed to this report.