Treasury yields held steady on Monday as equities looked to rebound from sharp losses led by declines in high-flying technology shares.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was flat at 0.6715%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also little changed at 1.4210%. Yields move inversely to prices.
Treasury yields declined last week as a sharp sell-off in the stock market drove investors into safer assets. The S&P 500 just suffered its first two-week losing streak since May, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped into correction territory in just three sessions, or a 10% decline from a record high.
Investors monitored news of a potential vaccine against Covid-19. On Sunday, Pfizer‘s CEO Albert Bourla said that a coronavirus vaccine could be distributed in the United States before the year-end. In addition, AstraZeneca has resumed its phase three trials over the weekend, after suspending them earlier in the week due to safety concerns.
Meanwhile, the number of Covid cases was growing by a weekly average of at least 5% in 11 U.S. states as of Sunday, according to a CNBC analysts of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The overall number of cases in the country is declining, however, as the U.S. averaged more than 34,000 cases per day last week, about half of what it was several weeks ago.
Investors also looked ahead to Wednesday’s Federal Reserve policy decision and news conference from Chair Jerome Powell.
“The Fed will undoubtedly be in focus given the broader macro backdrop, although new policy initiatives are unlikely save an updated SEP confirming lower for even longer,” Ian Lyngen, BMO’s head of U.S. rates, said in a note. “To be fair, in the present environment implicitly committing to extend the existing uber-easy monetary policy stance is by definition dovish – and widely anticipated.”
