Treasuries Rise on Falling Stocks, Suspect Bank Assets

Treasury prices rose on Wednesday as stocks fell and the financial sector showed additional signs of trouble.

Investors fled to the relative safety of treasuries as stocks digested news that parcel delivery company UPS reduced its first fiscal quarter profit outlook, citing continuing economic weakness, resulting in less deliveries.

Meanwhile, concerns arose in among financial firms as three of the top U.S. banks reported that they had gained hard to price assets known as Level 3 assets in the first calendar quarter. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers all saw increases.

Those assets have been some of the biggest loss leaders in the current financial crisis.

Two year treasuries rose 8/32 in price to yield 1.758 percent at 3:20 p.m. in New York. Ten year notes rose 24/32 in price to yield 3.471 percent.