U.S. sovereign bond yields fell on Friday even as data showed U.S. jobs increased at stronger-than-expected pace in January.
Treasurys
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, fell six basis points to around 1.585%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was lower at 2.048%.
The Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 225,000 jobs last month, beating a Dow Jones estimate of 158,000 nonfarm payrolls for January. Still, yields moved lower on the strong number.
"You could argue this is a reflection of people taking advantage of cheapness in Treasurys. In other words, buy the dip because of the coronavirus risk," said Jon Hill of BMO. "Overall it was generally strong print. Not a complete one sided blowout."
Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, said bonds responded to lower unemployment rate.
The unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.6% as the labor force participation rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 63.4%, matching its highest level since June 2013, the Labor Department said Friday.
"The Treasury market (yields down) is honing in on the slight rise in the unemployment rate because it is notable changes here that has a statistically significant influence on the direction of the economy," Boockvar said in a note.
Investors also closely monitored the developments on the coronavirus. China's National Health Commission on Friday confirmed 31,131 cases of the deadly pneumonia-like virus in the country, with 636 deaths.
There are no Treasury auctions due on Friday.
—CNBC's Matt Clinch and Patti Domm contributed to this article.