US bond yields steady, focus fixed on election news, jobs data

LONDON: US Treasury yields were broadly steady on Friday, with market attention fixed on the latest US election news and the October reading of the jobs market.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden took a narrow lead over President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia for the first time early on Friday, putting the White House within his reach as it and other undecided states continue to count ballots.

Election uncertainty and a growing expectation that the scope for hefty stimulus will be limited has pushed down US Treasury yields sharply this week.

In London trade, markets appeared to be in wait-and-see mode, with the US 10-year Treasury yield steady at around 0.78% -- above Thursday's three-week low near 0.72%.

Thirty-year Treasury yields were also steady at around 1.54% and also holding above the previous day's lows.

Long-dated bond yields are nevertheless down 9-10 basis points this week, with 10-year yields set for their biggest weekly drop since June.

"The rally in Treasuries loses steam as there is not a clear winner yet, but a Biden win looks to be more likely," analysts at Saxo Bank said in a note.

"We expect the US yield curve to resume its steepening once a clear winner is declared. In the meantime, however, rates can fall further with the 10-year yields trying their support line at 70 bps and the 30-year yields falling as much as 1.4%."

Bond markets in general were subdued ahead of the release of the US non-farm payrolls report later in the session.

Nonfarm payrolls probably increased by 600,000 jobs in October after rising 661,000 in September, according to a Reuters poll of economists. That would be the smallest gain since the jobs recovery started in May and leave employment 10.1 million jobs below its February peak.