NEW YORK -- U.S. government bond prices rose Wednesday, supported by a Federal Reserve report noting slower economic growth in several regions, but gains were curbed amid caution before Friday's monthly jobs report.
Traders said investors remained preoccupied with the stock market, where the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.35 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500 was up 0.32 percent in afternoon trading. The Nasdaq was down slightly.
The Fed's Beige Book, an anecdotal summary of economic conditions around the country, also noted that price pressures had remained little changed in the last weeks of February, despite tight labor markets.
"The positives are outweighed by the negatives. While they noted some weakness in several districts, they also said the labor market remains tight ... so very little change," said Mary Ann Hurley, vice president of fixed-income trading at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Seattle.
The benchmark 10-year note rose 9/32 in price for a yield of 4.50 percent, compared with 4.52 percent before the report and 4.54 percent late Tuesday. Bond yields and prices move inversely.
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Investors also shrugged off hawkish remarks by Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Michael Moskow that an interest-rate hike might still be needed to reduce inflation. Moskow, who is a voting member this year, has made similar remarks in the past.
In the Treasury market, participants ignored comments from Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, that the decline in U.S. home sales had reached bottom. Greenspan made the remarks at a trading technology conference in New York.
"The approach of payrolls is likely to be the tie breaker on Friday, with ranges somewhat constrained until then, barring another spasm in the asset markets overseas," said Michael Wallace an analyst at Action Eocnomics in San Francisco..
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