LONDON: US Treasury yields were little changed in Europe on Thursday, after nudging higher the previous day when the US Federal Reserve gave no indication it would undertake another round of bond purchases soon.
The Fed held policy steady on Wednesday and reiterated its expectation that interest rates would not rise until late 2014. Chairman Ben Bernanke said at his post-meeting news conference that he was comfortable with the central bank's policy stance, although it was prepared to do more to aid the US economy if needed.
Benchmark 10-year yields popped above 2 percent on Wednesday but soon retreated and were last flat at 1.986 percent. That is in contrast to after last month's meeting, where yields spiked to near 2.4 percent after the Fed acknowledged signs of strength in the economy. T-note futures were also flat at 131-22/32.
"I'm surprised we didn't see more of a reaction to the Fed this morning, but there you are, said one trader. "But we're very close to 2 percent and we could easily move above there, targeting 2.10 percent. We'll need to see a lot more negative news out of Europe to rally down to 1.95," he added.
The Treasury will sell $29 billion of new seven-year debt later in the day. A sale of $35 billion of five-year notes on Wednesday met strong demand, with strong interest from foreign central banks and other indirect bidders reflecting the ongoing appeal of safe-haven assets.
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