The yield advantage of the two-year Treasury note over the comparable-maturity German bund increased 5.6 basis points to 6.2 basis points today. The bund yielded 12 basis points more than the Treasury note on Sept. 27. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said today that European finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Oct. 8 should discuss the possibility of a sale of euros by the ECB to stem the European currency's advance against the dollar.

European politicians' comments have stoked expectations that policy makers of the ECB, the 27-member European Union and the Group of Seven nations will discuss currencies at meetings in Washington that begin Oct. 19.

The Bank of England yesterday left its benchmark interest rate at 5.75 percent, a six-year high. The pound posted a 0.3 percent drop against the dollar this week.

The Canadian currency rose 1.5 percent today against the U.S. dollar, touching the highest since 1976, as a government report showed the unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent.

An increase in the price of crude oil and other commodities has driven the Canadian dollar up 19 percent against the U.S. dollar this year for the biggest increase among the 16 most actively trade currencies.