The US Treasury sold 10-year debt below a yield of 2 per cent for the first time on Wednesday, with investors locking up their money at low returns for the safety of owning government debt, the FT reports. The $21bn of new paper was sold at a yield of 1.90 per cent, the lowest level in the modern era, and inside last September’s auction yield of 2 per cent. Non-dealers bought 55 per cent of the sale and the bid-to-cover ratio of 3.29 times, a sign of demand for the paper, was the third highest on record. Pimco also disclosed on Thursday that Bill Gross had increased his holdings of Treasuries in the asset manager’s $244bn flagship fund for the third month in a row, to the highest level in over a year. The Total Return found now has a 30 per cent weighting in government debt, up from 23 per cent at the end of November.