U.S. yields climb further, Brent at 11-month high

NEW YORK: The benchmark yield on U.S. Treasuries rose for a seventh straight session on Tuesday, while oil was at its highest in nearly a year and stocks edged lower, with eyes on U.S. earnings and Joe Biden's inauguration next week.

The 10-year U.S. yield touched its highest going back to March as prices were pressured ahead of a $38 billion offering later from the Treasury.

The yield has risen every session this year on expectations of a massive stimulus package from the incoming Democratic administration.

"The Georgia Senate run-off elections (that gave the majority to the Democrats) really changed the landscape for the outlook pretty significantly, as there is now potentially very significant additional stimulus," said Tom Simons, money market economist at Jefferies in New York.

Brent crude prices hit their highest since February as tighter supply and expectations of a drop in U.S. inventories offset concerns over rising coronavirus cases globally.

Saudi Arabia said it plans to cut output by an extra 1 million barrels per day in February and March.

"Saudi Arabia in particular is ensuring, through its additional voluntary production cuts, that the market is undersupplied if anything," said Eugen Weinberg of Commerzbank.

Brent was at $56.46, up 1.44pc on the day, while U.S. crude recently rose 1.36pc to $52.96 per barrel.

On Wall Street, stocks slipped but were still not far from record highs.

The Dow fell 64.17 points, or 0.21pc, 25.88 points, or 0.08pc, to 30,944.52, the S&P 500 lost 16.01 points, or 0.42pc, to 3,783.6 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 47.26 points, or 0.36pc, to 12,989.17.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.05pc and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.10pc.

Democrats said they will give President Donald Trump one last chance on Tuesday to leave office days before his term expires or face an unprecedented second impeachment over his supporters' deadly Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

An impeachment trial could proceed even after Trump leaves office. Some Democrats have expressed concern that a trial could hamper Biden's agenda, slowing confirmation of his appointees and distracting from legislative priorities such as a new coronavirus relief package.

"Even if (additional stimulus) is delayed, it's going to be a matter of days, maybe weeks, not months. The question is the shape and form of it," said Keith Buchanan, portfolio manager at GlobAlt in Atlanta.

Benchmark U.S. government 10-year debt last fell 11/32 in price to yield 1.1718pc, from 1.134pc late on Monday.

The U.S. dollar, which hit a more than a 2-1/2 year low against a basket of peers earlier this month, was little changed.

The dollar index fell 0.146pc, with the euro up 0.15pc to $1.2167.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.14pc versus the greenback at 104.11 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at $1.3624, up 0.81pc on the day.

Spot gold dropped 0.3pc to $1,839.60 an ounce. Silver gained 1.27pc to $25.24.

Bitcoin last fell 1.78pc to $34,824.44.