Treasuries moved modestly higher over the course of the trading day on Monday, extending the upward trend seen over the past few sessions.
Bond prices initially showed a lack of direction before climbing a little more firmly into positive territory. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 1.7 basis points to 3.057 percent.
With the modest decrease on the day, the ten-year yield ended the session at its lowest closing level in well over a month.
The continued strength among treasuries came amid a sell-off on Wall Street, with stocks falling sharply amid lingering concerns about the outlook for the global economy along with uncertainty about the potential for a trade deal between the U.S. and China.
At the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit over the weekend, Vice President Mike Pence said the U.S. would not back down until China changes its ways.
The stark warning dampened investor hopes for a thaw in U.S.-Chinese trade relations ahead of the G20 summit later this month in Argentina.
A pullback by shares of Apple (AAPL) also weighed on stocks, with the tech giant slumping after moving higher over the two previous sessions.
The steep drop by Apple came after the Wall Street Journal said the company slashed production orders for all three of the iPhone models that were unveiled in September.
Treasuries also benefited from the release of a report from the National Association of Home Builders showing a substantial decrease in homebuilder confidence in the month of November.
The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index plunged to 60 in November after inching up by one point to 68 in October. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 67.
With the much bigger than expected decrease, the housing market index dropped to its lowest level since hitting 59 in August of 2016.
"Builders report that they continue to see signs of consumer demand for new homes but that customers are taking a pause due to concerns over rising interest rates and home prices," said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.
Trading on Tuesday may be impacted by more housing data, with the Commerce Department due to release its report on new residential construction in October.
Housing starts are expected to climb to an annual rate of 1.225 million in October after tumbling by 5.3 percent to a rate of 1.201 million in September.
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