US long-dated yields slide from multi-year peaks

NEW YORK: US long-dated Treasury yields fell from multi-year highs in choppy trading on Tuesday, as investors took a breather from selling bonds.

The bond market was closed on Monday for the Columbus Day holiday.

Benchmark US 10-year yields earlier touched a 7-1/2-year peak, while those on 30-year bonds hit a more than four-year high. Yields on 7-year notes rose as well, climbing to their highest in more than eight years.

Upbeat US economic data as well as hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials that boosted expectations of interest rate hikes until 2020, had propelled yields to lofty levels.

The surge in yields, however, took a step back on Tuesday.

"After hitting highs overnight in yields, it was basically a straight drive for buyers across the curve, led by the long end," said Justin Lederer, a Treasury trader at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York.

"It was a pretty big sell-off last week. People are coming and looking at these yields and finding them attractive,' he added.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan also expressed some concern about the jump on US yields, noting that it suggests "conflicting factors" and along with a proposed new North America Agreement trade agreement have created uncertainty among investors over future economic growth prospects.

His remarks weighed slightly on yields. Kaplan, though, is not a voting member this year.

US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley's announcement that she is resigning had little impact on Treasuries, traders said, but only because market participants were not quite clear about its implications.

Haley said on Tuesday that she would stay until the end of the year and denied she was preparing to challenged President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

"I don't think there's a clear understanding of what it actually means," Cantor's Lederer said. "But politics will be front and center over the next month with the midterm elections."

In midday trading, US 10-year yields were last at 3.219 percent, down from 3.227 percent late on Friday. Earlier in the session, 10-year yields hit 3.261 percent, the highest since early May 2011.

US 30-year yields were at 3.386 percent, after earlier rising to 3.446 percent, its strongest since July 2014. Last Friday, the 30-year yield was at 3.397 percent.

US 7-year yields also rose earlier in the session, hitting 3.199 percent, its highest in 8-1/2 years. It was last at 3.163 percent.

Investors will monitor a slew of global risks, including

this week's slate of heavy supply with $230 billion in bills, notes, bonds on offer.