TOKYO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries were steady to firmer in subdued Asian trade on Monday with investors waiting for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to speak later in the day.

* Bernanke is scheduled to speak to the Economic Club of New York at 1715 GMT. He is likely to reinforce the idea that the central bank will leave rates on hold for an extended period.

* "Any comment from Bernanke on low interest rates for an extended period will be taken as an assurance on the Fed's policy," said Yoshio Takahashi, a fixed-income strategist at Barclays Capital.

* But yields on shorter maturities look to have little room to fall further even if Bernanke makes comments on keeping interest rates low with the two-year yield already near 0.80 percent, Takahashi said.

* The yields of shorter notes have fallen in the past week as Fed governors, including Philadelphia Fed president Charles Plosser, a noted hawk, have been consistent with view that the Fed will keep rates on hold for some time.

* T-note futures edged up 3/32 to 119-1.5/32 TYv1. Benchmark 10-year notes were up 2/32 in price to yield 3.416 percent, down about a basis point from late U.S. trade on Friday.

* Two-year notes were little changed in price to yield 0.819 percent US2YT=RR, while 30-year bonds were up 6/32 in price to yield 4.347 percent US30YT=RR, down a basis point.

* Market players are also focusing on the state of the economy this week, starting with Monday's data on October retail sales. Figures on producer and consumer prices are due on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. (Editing by Joseph Radford)