Treasuries Rise as Japan’s Reactor Risk Spurs Demand for Refuge

Treasuries gained, pushing 10-year note yields to their lowest level this year, as Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked for calm as engineers worked to cool nuclear reactors damaged by last week’s earthquake.

Yields on 10-year notes fell the most in almost three months as the Bank of Japan’s efforts to provide liquidity and expand an asset-purchase program failed to stem an equity selloff, which sent the Nikkei 225 Stock Average down as much as 14 percent and sapped U.S. stocks. Two-year note yields slumped as Federal Reserve policy met.