TREASURIES-Prices hold losses after 30-yr bond auction

NEW YORK Feb 11 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt prices fell on Thursday as investors turned to riskier assets after a Greek bailout was announced and the U.S. government closed out a week of poor bond sales.

The government sold $16 billion of 30-year bonds at a yield of 4.720 percent -- the highest since Aug. 9, 2007 -- and above expectations.

U.S. stocks rose as European leaders pledged help for debt-ridden Greece, removing some uncertainty about a possible sovereign default that had hurt global equity markets and pushed Treasury prices higher. For details, see [ID:nLDE61A0W2] [ID:nN11148428]

But it was the 30-year auction that attracted the most attention after two dismal sales earlier in the week.

"It was an ugly auction. Bidding was sloppy," said Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist and managing director in fixed income at Jefferies & Co in New York.

U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR yielded 3.72 percent, up from a high yield of 3.69 percent in an auction of $25 billion of 10-year notes on Wednesday. Treasury yields move inversely to prices. Thirty-year bonds yielded 4.67 percent, down 14/32 on the day.

The two-year note US2YT=RR traded flat in price to yield 0.88 percent. (Reporting by Tom Ryan; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)