Longer-term yields rise further as investors embrace risk

CHICAGO: US Treasury yields on the longer end of the curve extended their rise on Tuesday as investors rushed to riskier investments, including soaring stocks.

The benchmark 10-year yield was last up 2.7 basis points at 0.8865% and the yield curve steepened.

Stan Shipley, fixed income strategist at Evercore ISI in New York, said investors, driven by hopes of a closer economic recovery, were ditching the safe haven of Treasuries for riskier commodities and stocks.

"With yields of 85 or 88 basis points, that's not very attractive on the 10-year (note), and (people are) going to look for returns elsewhere," he said.

Economic rebound hopes spurred by progress on coronavirus vaccines, along with the commencement of President-elect Joe Biden's transition process three weeks after the election, pushed stocks higher and lifted the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the 30,000 mark for the first time.

Following auctions of two- and five-year notes on Monday, the US Treasury will offer $56 billion of seven-year notes later on Tuesday.

The two-year US Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was last down less than a basis point at 0.1641%.

A closely watched part of the US Treasury yield curve measuring the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes, seen as an indicator of economic expectations, was last at 72.10 basis points, 3 basis points higher than Monday's close.