US Treasurys mixed as stocks try for gains

U.S. sovereign bond prices were mixed on Monday, as crude oil continued to slide and U.S. stocks wavered between positive and negative territory.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes (U.S.: US10Y) yielded 2.166 percent on Monday, up from a closing yield of 2.131 percent. (Yields and bond prices move inversely: CNBC Explains .) Thirty-year bonds (U.S.: US30Y) fell to yield 2.961 percent on Monday, versus 2.921 percent at the close.

But prices of shorter-dated notes and bills rose. The yield on the two-year Treasury note fell to 0.924 percent.

Major U.S. stock averages were mixed on Monday in choppy trade as crude oil prices kept falling, with both WTI (New York Mercantile Exchange: @CL.1) and Brent (Intercontinental Exchange Europe: @LCO.1) dipping below $32 per barrel.

"Crude and Brent oil (Intercontinental Exchange Europe: @LCO.1) had a very rocky and wild start for this year, similar to the equity market, and the confidence in the commodity space is still far away from forming any kind of solid foundation. There is a strong possibility that we break below the $30-mark and the price could be trading between $25 and $30," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, said in a note.

European markets also struggled for gains after more volatility in China.

China's Shanghai composite (Shanghai Stock Exchange: .SSEC) closed down more than 5 percent and the Shenzhen composite closed ended 6.6 percent lower on Monday. This came as the People's Bank of China raised the midpoint fix for the yuan (Exchange: CNY=) against the U.S. dollar to 6.5626.

"Investors continue to fret over a number of issues facing investors in Chinese stocks," Simon Smith, chief economist at FxPro, said in a research note on Monday.

"Asian economies are slowing, in particular China, as evidenced once again over the weekend and it is how the authorities go about dealing with this that is spooking the markets. While they may have plenty of tools at their disposal, they are faced with a two pronged problem of pursuing both economic and market reform agendas," he added.

Treasury prices rose on Friday, after the nonfarm payrolls report for December coming in stronger than forecast. The unemployment rate averaged 5.0 percent and 292,000 jobs were created outside of the agricultural sector during the month.

After last week's flurry of top-tier economic data, the highlight this week will be Friday's release of retail sales and industrial production figures in December. There will also be the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey for January.

No major economic data are scheduled for Monday, however.

The Treasury will auction three-year notes (U.S.: US3Y) on Tuesday, to be followed by 10-year and 30-year auctions on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

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