1/LITMUS TEST
FILE PHOTO: A trader works as a screen shows Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell s news conference after the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rates announcement on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., July 31, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
As a mini-tantrum raged on bond markets on Feb. 25, the U.S. Treasury auctioned $62 billion in seven-year notes. But investors, it would appear, forgot to show up. The lowest bid-cover ratio of 2.04 on record sent 10-year Treasury yields rocketing to a one-year high above 1.61%.
The Fed signalling it is not perturbed by rising yields has markets fretting again. Scheduled 10-year and 30-year Treasury bond sales on Wednesday and Thursday will be what TD Securities dubs a “litmus test for potential market dysfunction”.
A gauge of global stocks dipped in choppy trading on Monday as investors eyed the yield on U.S. Treasuries for signs of inflation pressures in the wake of the U.S. Senate's passage of a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill.
As a mini-tantrum raged on bond markets on Feb. 25, the U.S. Treasury auctioned $62 billion in seven-year notes. But investors, it would appear, forgot to show up. The lowest bid-cover ratio of 2.04 on record sent 10-year Treasury yields rocketing to a one-year high above.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The cost of borrowing U.S. 10-year Treasuries in the overnight repurchase, or repo market, went deeply negative on Thursday, analysts said, as investors sought to short the notes, causing market stress.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. one hundred dollar notes are seen in this picture illustration taken in Seoul February 7, 2011. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won
Negative rates in the repo market, which is important to the financial system, with trillions of dollars in short-term loans traded daily, partly reflect uncertainty about how long the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep its easy monetary policy.
“There is more market stress right now because the market is very volatile,” said Scott Skyrm, executive vice president at broker-dealer Curvature Securities.
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LONDON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve: 1, bond markets: 0. That’s more or less where it stands after Round One in the tussle over borrowing costs. But Round Two, and perhaps even Round Three, are inevitable, and they may require policy action rather than just words.
FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Board building on Constitution Avenue is pictured in Washington, U.S., March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
February’s bond selloff sent U.S. 10- and 30-year Treasury yields more than 30 basis points higher while governments from France to Australia saw their borrowing costs jump. Stock markets, which for years surfed the cheap-money wave, tumbled.