Bonds Rise As Stocks Falter

NEW YORK (AP) â€” Bond prices rose again Wednesday as a sharp decline on Wall Street sent investors looking for safety. <br><br>The price of the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 3/4 point, or $7.50

Wednesday, May 10th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) â€” Bond prices rose again Wednesday as a sharp decline on Wall Street sent investors looking for safety.

The price of the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 3/4 point, or $7.50 per $1,000 in face value. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, fell to 6.42 percent compared with 6.52 percent late Tuesday.

The 30-year Treasury bond rose 13/32 point to yield 6.15 percent, down from 6.21 percent a day earlier, according to Bridge Telerate news service.

The Treasury market benefited from a steep drop in stock prices, which was led by declines in high-tech issues and mounting worries over interest rate increases and inflationary pressures.

The Nasdaq composite index tumbled 200.28 to 3,384.73, while the Dow Jones industrial average lost 168.97 to close at 10,367.78.

In other trading, short-term Treasury securities rose between 3/32 point and 3/16 point, while intermediate maturities rose between 3/8 point and 9/16 point.

Yields on three-month Treasury bills were 6.09 percent as the discount fell 0.03 percentage point to 5.93 percent. Six-month yields were 6.40 percent, as the discount fell 0.02 percentage point to 6.13 percent. One-year yields were 6.29 percent as the discount fell by 0.01 percentage point from late Tuesday to 6.98 percent.

Yields are the interest bonds pay by maturity, while the discount is the interest at which they are sold.

The federal funds rate, the interest on overnight loans between banks, rose to 5.94 percent from 5.81 percent late Tuesday.

In the tax-exempt market, the Bond Buyer index of 40 actively traded municipal bonds fell 1/32 to 92 13/32. The average yield to maturity was unchanged at 6.19 percent.