Yields rise as European stimulus plan boosts risk appetite

• Benchmark 10-year note yields rose one basis point to 0.706pc.
• The yields have traded in a range from 0.543pc to 0.785pc since the beginning of April.
• The Treasury will sell $45 billion in five-year notes on Wednesday, the largest sale of five-year notes on record.

NEW YORK: US Treasury yields edged higher on Wednesday as a European stimulus plan boosted risk appetite and reduced demand for safe-haven bonds, and before the Treasury is due to sell a record amount of five-year notes.

The European Commission unveiled on Wednesday a plan to borrow on the market and then disburse to European Union countries 750 billion euros in grants and loans to help them recover from their coronavirus-related economic slump.

"Rates are being driven by the talk of the European plan to stimulate the economy," said Gennadiy Goldberg, an interest rate strategist at TD Securities in New York.

Benchmark 10-year note yields rose one basis point to 0.706pc.

The yields have traded in a range from 0.543pc to 0.785pc since the beginning of April.

That range reflects investor uncertainty over whether there will be a new uptick in the spread of the virus, and a subsequent drop in risk appetite, or whether the economy is on the road to recovery.

"That's the uncertainty that's keeping everything in a tight range," Goldberg said.

The Treasury will sell $45 billion in five-year notes on Wednesday, the largest sale of five-year notes on record.

It sold a record $44 billion in two-year notes on Tuesday to solid demand.

Treasury will also sell $38 billion in seven-year notes on Thursday.

The US government has been increasing the size of its debt auctions as it finances spending meant to blunt the economic impact of business shutdowns designed to stem the spread of the coronavirus.