Treasury two-year note yields touched the lowest since January as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated that economic “headwinds” will keep interest rates near record lows for an extended period. “Significant economic challenges remain,” Bernanke said. “The flow of credit remains constrained, economic activity weak, and unemployment much too high. Future setbacks are possible.” “The consumer recovery continues to disappoint,” said Guy Lebas, chief fixed-income strategist and economist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia. “It’s been far slower than people have hoped because of a lessening demand and access to credit, which has provided a boon to bonds.” The Fed Bank of New York’s general economic index fell to 23.5 from 34.6, the highest since mid-2004, the bank said today, below the median projection of 30 in a Bloomberg News survey. Treasury yields may decline amid $65 billion of coupon and redemption payments this week, as reported by Citigroup (NYSE: C). -Bloomberg

World stocks rallied today, boosted by stronger commodity prices and a weak dollar, even after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stated that the central bank was monitoring the value of the greenback "closely." U.S. crude oil futures leaped 4 percent as the weaker dollar prompted investors to buy commodities. The greenback slipped on better-than-expected U.S. retail sales data and after Asian and U.S. leaders failed to agree over exchange rates at a summit in Singapore. –Reuters

Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) stated that upscale retail may be ready to run. The gold-plated investment bank upgraded high-end retailers Nordstrom and Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH), and upped estimates for Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF), Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) and Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST), in a note out today. “Higher-end retailers are positioned to recover now that we are past the trough. Past recovery spending downturns illustrate that the high-end falls further but ultimately rebounds sharply to drive greater “earnings” upside. This coupled with greater global growth should propel further multiple expansions,” Goldman analysts disclosed. -The Wall Street Journal