Prices of U.S. Treasury securities rose Thursday, pushing 10-year yields to their lowest level since May, after global stock markets tumbled and investors retreated from riskier assets to the safety of government debt.
The difference between yields on two-year notes and 10-year securities touched the widest since October 2005 as a month-long rout in subprime mortgages spread to other credit markets. The cost of insuring debt against default using credit-default swaps jumped to the highest level in more than two years; about 40 companies reworked or abandoned deals in the past three weeks.
