NEW YORK — A darkening view of the economy sent bond rates to their lowest level in 14 months on Monday and kept many investors out of the stock market.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, considered a benchmark because it’s used to set rates on consumer loans including mortgages, fell to 3.03 percent, its lowest point since late April 2009. At that time, the markets were still recovering from the devastation of the financial crisis and collapse in stocks.
Investors felt safer making their bets in the bond market, and many avoided stock trades. All the major stock indexes fell by single digits.
The New York Stock Exchange traded fewer than a billion shares on its selling floor, a number that’s more likely to be seen in August or late December than in June.
Treasurys benefited from investors’ growing gloom. The latest bit of bad economic news came from the Commerce Department, which said consumers saved more than they spent last month. The government said consumer spending rose 0.2 percent last month, just above the 0.1 percent growth forecast by economists polled by Thomson Reuters. However, personal income rose 0.4 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 5.29, or 0.1 percent, to 10,138.52 after being up 58 points. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 2.19, or 0.2 percent, to 1,074.57.
The Nasdaq composite index fell 2.83, or 0.1 percent, to 2,220.65.
The 10-year note’s 3.03 percent yield compared with 3.11 percent late Friday. It hadn’t been that low since April 28 of last year.
Investors are also growing anxious ahead of the release of the government’s June employment report Friday. The May report was troubling because it showed that private employers are hiring few workers.
