The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield hit its lowest level in more than three months as investors grew increasingly concerned about the economic impact of the fast-spreading coronavirus.
Treasurys
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was lower at around 1.609%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also lower at around 2.058%. The 10-year Treasury yield touched a low of 1.603% in the session, its lowest level since Oct. 10.
Chinese officials confirmed Sunday that there had been more than 2,700 confirmed cases of the deadly pneumonia-like virus, including 461 people in a critical condition as the death toll rose to 80.
The virus, which started in the Chinese city of Wuhan, comes from a large family of coronaviruses, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It has spread beyond Wuhan to other major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Macao and Hong Kong.
The WHO has said that while the virus — which is spreading via human-to-human contact — is "an emergency in China," it has not yet become a global health emergency.
Data out Monday also didn't help with the market sentiment. New home sales fell unexpectedly in December, down 0.4% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 694,000 units, the Commerce Department reported Monday.
The U.S. Treasury is set to auction $45 billion in 13-week bills, $39 billion in 26-week bills, $40 billion in two-year notes and $41 billion in five-year notes.
New York Fed President John Williams is also expected to comment on the world's largest economy at an event in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Monday.
— CNBC's Saheli Roy Choudhury contributed to this report.