NEW YORK: Investors were slightly more optimistic on the outlook for US government debt on the week, although the vast majority continued to hold a neutral outlook as yields hover near two-month highs, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
The share of investors who said on Monday they were "long" US government debt, or holding more Treasuries than their portfolio benchmarks, rose to 19 percent from 17 percent the previous week, J.P. Morgan Securities said in its weekly Treasury client survey.
The share of investors who said they were "neutral" on US government debt, or holding Treasuries equal to their portfolio benchmarks, held steady on the week at 72 percent.
The share of investors who were "short", or holding fewer Treasuries than their benchmarks, fell to 9 percent from previous week's 11 percent, J.P. Morgan said.
This was the lowest level of outright shorts since Feb. 13, the bank said.
The slight move to more long positions comes after benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields last week touched 1.7310 percent, marking the highest since late May. Yields on Tuesday reached to just below that level at 1.7309 percent.
Yields have been trending higher since touching a record low near 1.3820 percent on July 25.
In J.P. Morgan's latest survey, the share of active clients -- who are viewed as taking on speculative bets in Treasuries and include market makers and hedge funds -- with long positions rose to 15 percent from 8 percent the previous week.
The share of active clients who owned Treasuries equal to their benchmarks held steady at 77 percent, while the share of active traders who were short dipped to 8 percent from 15 percent.
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