By Sunny Oh

Futures for S&P and Dow point to lower open

Treasury prices rose Friday, pulling down yields, after softer economic data in China perked up concerns around the global economy's health, drawing investors into haven assets like U.S. government debt.

The 10-year Treasury note yield slipped 3.1 basis points to 2.880%. The 2-year note yield was down 2.9 basis points to 2.731%, while the 30-year bond fell 2 basis points to 3.142%. Bond prices move in the opposite direction of yields.

Growth in China's industrial output and retail sales came in weaker than expected, stoking fears that pockets of weakness were cropping up in the world's second-largest economy. Industrial output in November grew 5.4% on a yearly basis, below the consensus forecast of 5.9%. Retail sales rose 8.1% in November, its slowest pace since 2003 and 0.7 percentage point below consensus expectations, according to FactSet data.

Asian stocks slumped on the heels of the lackluster data, drawing investors into government paper. The Nikkei 225 and the Shanghai Composite ended down more than 1%. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P showed U.S. equities were poised for a lower open.

"While tariffs only exacerbate the softness, the pace of economic growth in China has been slowing irrespective of them in response to a needed slowing of excessive credit growth," said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer for the Bleakley Advisory Group, in a note.

The U.S. and China remain engaged in trade talks that some hope will lead to the end of the tit-for-tat tariffs between the two sides. But some analysts say that to arrest China's slowdown, Beijing needs to launch a fresh batch of fiscal stimulus measures that could undo efforts to prevent a further buildup of debt across its economy.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 14, 2018 08:19 ET (13:19 GMT)