10-year Treasury yield falls to lowest level since May

U.S. Treasury yields fell Friday as recession fears and disappointing economic data left investors looking for safety.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note traded lower by 8 basis points at 2.889%, near its lowest level since late May. Meanwhile, the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond slid less than 1 basis point to 3.116%.

The 2-year Treasury rate, which is typically more sensitive to U.S. monetary policy changes, was down 8 basis points at 2.839%. Yields move inversely to prices.

Yields extended losses after the ISM manufacturing index came in at 53, slightly below a Dow Jones estimate of 54.3.

That data set came in a day after the government reported that the core personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, rose 4.7% in May. That’s 0.2 percentage points less than the month before, but still around levels last seen in the 1980s. The index was expected to show a year-over-year increase of 4.8% for May, according to Dow Jones.

Stubbornly high inflation levels and the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tackle a surge in prices have resulted in escalating recession worries. They also led to a dismal performance for stocks in the first half of the year.

The S&P 500 on Thursday closed out its worst first half in decades. The broader market index dropped 20.6% for its largest first-half decline since 1970.

— CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.