By Daniel Kruger 

U.S. government bond prices rose Monday to kick off a week that includes a closely watched meeting of the Federal Reserve.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note ratcheted lower to a recent 2.871%, according to Tradeweb, down from 2.891% Friday.

Yields, which fall as bond prices rise, slipped to start a week in which Fed policy makers are expected to scale back their forecasts for rate increases in 2019, and could also lower estimates for the pace of growth.

Officials have indicated that they intend to take a closer look at incoming data in making decisions on rate increases, and some investors think that could also include increased consideration of financial assets.

Some analysts said falling stock prices were also attracting investors to the relative safety of U.S. government debt. While fundamental data has remained fairly strong, volatility in the stock market has increased and credit conditions have tightened noticeably in recent weeks, making many investors anxious for the Fed to provide more clarity about its outlook.

"They're going to be concerned about equity-market volatility -- how could they not be," said Thomas di Galoma, a managing director and head of Treasury trading at Seaport Global Holdings.

At their September meeting, Fed officials had penciled in one more rate increase this year, three in 2019 and one more in 2020. Many investors think that officials will reduce their forecast to a total of two rate increases next year. Policy makers could also reduced their forecast for growth in 2019, as tightening financial conditions begin to drag on growth, analysts said.

Write to Daniel Kruger at Daniel.Kruger@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 17, 2018 10:29 ET (15:29 GMT)