U.S. Treasury yields were little changed on Friday as confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. reached a record high on Thursday.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note hovered around to 0.89%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond traded at 1.64%. Yields move inversely to prices.
The muted moves in the bond market Friday came as the daily count for coronavirus cases in the U.S. reached 153,496 on Thursday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The resurgence in coronavirus cases has also led some parts of the country to re-adopt stricter social-distancing measures. In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked residents to cancel their Thanksgiving plans and stay indoors as cases rise in the city. In New York state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said new curfews on bars, restaurants and gyms will take effect later on Friday.
“The Coronavirus is once again front and center with selective lockdowns being imposed across the country,” Gregory Faranello, head of U.S. rates trading at AmeriVet Securities, wrote in a note. “This all at the same time we received positive news on the vaccine front. Markets remain choppy in the interim.”
On Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he was worried about the long-term economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, warning that the “next few months could be challenging” as the virus continued to spread.
Yields surged earlier in the week after positive vaccine news sparked a move out of traditionally safer assets, such as bonds, in favor or riskier ones. On Monday, Pfizer and BioNTech said their coronavirus vaccine candidate was more than 90% effective at preventing infections among trial participants.
—CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
