Yahoo Finance TREASURIES-Yields rise on vaccine optimism, Yellen news
(Recasts, updates yields; adds Yellen report, analyst comment, and Treasury auctions) Nov 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury yields moved higher on Monday and the yield curve steepened on positive COVID-19 vaccine news and a report that former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen is President-elect Joe Biden's pick for Treasury secretary. The benchmark 10-year yield was last up 2.6 basis points at 0.8553%. A closely watched part of the U.S. Treasury yield curve measuring the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes, seen as an indicator of economic expectations, was last at 69.2 basis points, about 2.9 basis points higher than Friday's close. Yields ticked higher after Yellen's nomination was reported by the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the decision. "I think the market's gut reaction is that it's a positive for stocks, positive for higher rates -- little bit more growth, little bit more inflation," said Justin Hoogendoorn, head of fixed income strategy at Piper Sandler in Chicago. Meanwhile, investors seemed to be moving out of ultra-safe U.S. Treasuries as stocks and commodities markets rose, said Subadra Rajappa, head of U.S. rates strategy for Societe Generale. Stocks got a boost as AstraZeneca Plc on Monday became the latest major drugmaker to say its COVID-19 vaccine could be around 90% effective, while the U.S. health regulator is likely to approve in mid-December the distribution of Pfizer Inc's PFE.N vaccine. On the auction front, the Treasury sold $57 billion of five-year notes at a high yield of 0.397% and with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.38. That followed an auction of $56 billion of two-year notes. On Tuesday, $56 billion of seven-year notes will be offered, along with $24 billion of two-year floating rate notes. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was unchanged at 0.1634%. November 23 Monday 4:05PM New York / 2205 GMT Price Price Current Net Yield % Change (bps) Three-month bills 0.075 0.0761 0.008 Six-month bills 0.085 0.0862 -0.008 Two-year note 99-237/256 0.1634 0.000 Three-year note 100-24/256 0.2184 0.005 Five-year note 99-86/256 0.386 0.010 Seven-year note 99-32/256 0.6292 0.021 10-year note 100-48/256 0.8553 0.026 20-year bond 100-100/256 1.3526 0.020 30-year bond 101-176/256 1.5544 0.023 DOLLAR SWAP SPREADS Last (bps) Net Change (bps) U.S. 2-year dollar swap 8.75 0.00 spread U.S. 3-year dollar swap 8.00 0.00 spread U.S. 5-year dollar swap 6.50 0.00 spread U.S. 10-year dollar swap -0.25 0.25 spread U.S. 30-year dollar swap -31.75 0.25 spread (Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston, additional reporting by Karen Pierog in Chicago; Editing by Kirsten Donovan/Dan Grebler/Ken Ferris)
