BLBG:Treasuries Most Expensive in Two Weeks on Debt Concern
Treasuries fell, with 10-year notes snapping a four-day advance, before data forecast to show U.S. housing starts rose last month, adding to signs the world’s largest economy is improving.
Benchmark 10-year yields climbed from the lowest in two weeks. Housing starts rose 3.3 percent to an 890,000 annual rate in December, the highest number since July 2008, based on the median estimates of Bloomberg News surveys before the Commerce Department report at 8:30 a.m. New York time. Separate data will show initial jobless claims fell and manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded, the surveys showed.
“This move in Treasuries has caught the market by surprise, equities are flat and there’s a general risk-on feel,” said Barra Sheridan, a rates trader at Bank of Montreal in London. “U.S. housing is at four-to-five year highs, although maybe it has peaked out a bit.”
The 10-year yield rose two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 1.84 percent at 10:06 a.m. in London, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. The yield fell to 1.80 percent yesterday, the least since Jan. 2. The 1.625 percent note maturing in November 2022 fell 6/32, or $1.88 per $1,000 face amount, to 98 2/32.
Treasuries have handed investors a 0.3 percent loss this year, or minus 6.4 percent at an annual rate, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. Sovereign bonds around the world have dropped 0.1 percent in January, based on the data.
To contact the reporter on this story: Neal Armstrong in London at narmstrong8@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net
