Treasurys rise on concerns about Greece

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) � Treasury prices rose Monday, pushing yields down slightly, in response to the lack of a political agreement in Greece to make reforms necessary to avoid default.

Yields on 10-year notes 10_YEAR , which move inversely to prices, fell 3 basis points to 1.9%. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point.

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Five-year note yields 5_YEAR �slipped 2 basis point to 0.75%, heading back toward an all-time low touched last week.

Thirty-year yields 30_YEAR �declined 3 basis points to 3.09%.

In Greece, party leaders once again postponed a meeting where they�re expected to agree on key austerity measures, including wage cuts. They failed to come to terms during weekend negotiations.

Leaders from the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank told Greece that without such reforms, it may not receive the second bailout of 130 billion euros ($170.6 billion) that was agreed to in principle last year. Without the aid, Greece is seen as certain to miss a March debt repayment, putting the country into outright default. Read the latest on Greece.

Limiting gains, traders are preparing for the U.S. government�s quarterly refunding auctions, which will include sales of 10-year notes and 30-year bonds. See story on bond refunding.

�Treasurys are modestly higher, as discord among Greek coalition members over the terms of the second bailout raises the threat of default and has sent the euro and European stocks lower,� bond strategists at RBS Securities said. �We have a very quiet week of economic data up ahead and the market�s focus will be on the Treasury refunding auctions, which begin tomorrow.�

Bond prices dropped on Friday, pushing benchmark 10-year yields up by the most since October, after the U.S. government said the economy added many more jobs in January than expected, boosting confidence that the economy continues to grow. Read about bond selloff on Friday.

Corporate-debt sales, ETFs

Corporate-bond markets were also quiet, with just a handful of companies � many based abroad � expected to issue bonds during the session. Those include Kimberly-Clark Corp. KMB , selling $300 million, according to CRT Capital Group, and Deutsche Bank AG DB selling $800 million.

�Turmoil on the macroeconomic front is never a positive for new deals in the debt market,� said Michael Gambale, an analyst at Informa Global Markets. Given �Greece uncertainty coupled with the Monday following a New York Giants Super Bowl win last night, we expect new announcements to be relatively slower than usual.�

Among some of the major bond exchange-traded funds, iShares iBoxx $ InvesTop Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF LQD �rose 0.3%.

The iShares Barclays Aggregate Bond Fund AGG slipped 0.1% and the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF BND �was little changed, but both are near their 52-week highs.

Some of the biggest high-yield ETFs were off slightly. The iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond Fund HYG �fell 0.1% and SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF JNK �lost about 0.2%.