RENEE MONTAGNE, host: NPR's business news starts with gains for U.S. treasuries.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Weeks of political wrangling over the debt ceiling sparked fears of the first-ever downgrade of U.S. debt. Worried investors sought safe haven in U.S. treasuries. Bloomberg reports that for July, investors who held U.S. bonds did quite well. For every 10 million invested, they reaped a profit of 183,000. U.S. bonds returned about three times more than the rest of the global sovereign bond market.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Gains in the bond market can indicate economic fear, though. That fear was evident in the stock market yesterday. U.S. stocks plummeted more than two percent.
Political wrangling over the debt ceiling sparked fears of a downgrade of U.S. debt. Despite that, some worried investors sought safe haven in U.S. treasuries. Bloomberg reports that for July, investors who held U.S. bonds did quite well. Treasuries returned about three times more than the rest of the global sovereign bond market.