TREASURIES-Rise in Asia after Bernanke talks of Fed purchases

* Treasuries edge up in Asia after rally the previous day

* Fed chief Bernanke comments support long maturities

* Asian shares drop on deepening economic gloom

By Satomi Noguchi

TOKYO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries edged up in Asia on Tuesday with benchmark yields trading near five-decade lows after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled that the central bank could buy government and agency bonds and spurred a big market rally the previous day.

The National Bureau of Economic Research on Monday said the U.S. economy has been languishing in recession since December 2007, fanning investor fears of a long economic downturn.

Asian stocks fell, tracking Wall Street after data showed factory activity fell to its lowest since the 1981/82 recession, which supported safe-haven bids in U.S. government debt.

Bernanke urged decisive action to protect the U.S. economy and said the Fed could directly buy longer-term securities issued by the U.S. Treasury or government-sponsored agencies in order to influence yields and stimulate demand. [ID:nN01516053]

"Bernanke gave a sign that the Fed is starting to make another policy commitment after programs last week to buy mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities," said Yoshio Takahashi, fixed-income strategist at Barclays Capital in Tokyo.

"Treasury yields could fall further in the near-term as the market anticipates details of the new Fed measures expected at its policy meeting later in the month, which could include purchases of long maturities."

The benchmark 10-year notes rose 4/32 in price to yield 2.710 percent US10YT=RR, down 2 basis points from late New York trade on Monday when the yield fell to about 2.65 percent, the lowest in 50 years.

Barclays Capital's Takahashi said sovereign investors were shifting their to Treasuries from bonds by government-sponsored agencies in a search for safety, adding to falling Treasury yields.

But their moves also raise questions as to whether long-term Treasury yields could remain at historically low levels if risk aversion heightens further, which may prompt them to consider repatriating funds, he said.

The two-year notes edged up 1/32 in price to yield 0.898 percent US2YT=RR, down 2 basis points.

The Fed is widely expected to lower rates by a half a percentage point to 0.5 percent at its next scheduled meeting on Dec. 15-16, and to use so-called quantitative measures to pump up financial market liquidity and curb economic weakness. (Editing by Jan Dahinten)