NEW YORK: US Treasuries yields rose on Monday as oil prices steadied above five-year lows and revived bids for stocks and risky assets, reducing the safe-haven appeal of US government debt.
The yield rise was limited by persistent concerns about weakening growth and inflation globally.
Those worries have supported bets the Federal Reserve might consider keeping its pledge to leave short-term interest rates near zero for a "considerable period" in its latest policy statement at the two-day meeting that will begin on Tuesday.
"There is a slightly better 'risk-on' tone in the market. Oil came back a bit and equities came back a bit," said Mike Cullinane, head of Treasuries trading at D.A. Davidson in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was 2.118 percent, up 1.5 basis points from late on Friday. It struck a two-month low at 2.071 percent in overnight trading.
The 30-year Treasury yield rose 0.2 basis point to 2.759 percent after it briefly narrowed its premium over the five-year yield to a six-year low of 1.217 percent earlier Monday.
In the oil market, January US crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were down 0.4 percent at $57.60 a barrel, while January Brent futures in London were up 0.6 percent at $62.25, recovering from a five-year low near $60 hit in earlier Monday trading.
Monday's stabilization in oil prices, which have fallen some 45 percent from their peak in June, helped propel major US stock indexes higher after the Standard & Poor's 500 suffered its worst week in more than two years.
On the data front, the New York Federal Reserve's index on regional business activity unexpectedly slumped to a two-year low in December, while a gauge on US homebuilder sentiment fell slightly short of market expectations this month.
On the other hand, the government said industrial output rose 1.3 percent in November for its biggest monthly rise in more than 4-1/2 years.
Comments
Comments are closed.