Yields head higher as coronavirus slowdown hopes lift stocks

• The yield on the benchmark US 10-year note was last up 7 basis points at 0.6588pc.
• New York, the country's biggest hot spot, reported that for the first time in a week virus-related deaths in the state had fallen slightly from the day before.
• The two-year US Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was at 0.2543pc, up 4.1 basis points.

CHICAGO: US Treasury yields rose on Monday as stocks opened strong on hopes that the coronavirus health crisis may be slowing down in some parts of the United States.

The yield on the benchmark US 10-year note was last up 7 basis points at 0.6588pc.

Lou Brien, a strategist at DRW Trading in Chicago, said Wall Street's upward trajectory was "the first and last reason why Treasuries are lower in price and higher in yield this morning."

While the nation has been warned by federal officials that a "peak week" for death is approaching, Brien said stocks may be anticipating that the crisis' duration may be shortening up a little bit.

On Sunday, New York, the country's biggest hot spot, reported that for the first time in a week virus-related deaths in the state had fallen slightly from the day before.

On Friday, the bond market largely shrugged off the March employment report despite its magnitude with just over 700,000 jobs lost as a result of the wide-spread closure of non-essential businesses and services.

"The jobs data that we got on Friday was bad to horrible and that is just the appetizer to what will probably come in April," Brien said.

The 30-year Treasury yield rose 6.9 basis points to 1.2854pc.

The two-year US Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was at 0.2543pc, up 4.1 basis points.

On the repurchase agreement (repo) operation front, the New York Federal Reserve said it accepted all $6.3 billion of bids submitted in a 28-day operation and $2.7 billion of bids in an overnight operation.