A solid auction of 30-year US debt eased recent worries over the cost of financing the nation's massive budget deficit as it attempts to climb out of recession.

Following Wednesday's disappointing 10-year auction, most gauges of demand were strong in Thursday's auction, soothing worries global appetite for US debt was slipping.

'I would put myself in the category of slightly surprised; I think it's much better than what the street was expecting,' said John Schloegel, vice president of investment strategies at Capital Cities Asset Management in Austin, Texas.

In Washington, lawmakers accused the Treasury and Federal Reserve of trying to force Bank of America to buy Merrill Lynch in the wake of Lehman Brothers' collapse, a charge that the bank's chief executive denied.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will be asked to testify at a later date. -- REUTERS