Treasury yields rise slightly amid vaccine optimism
U.S. Treasury yields rose on Monday after news of an effective coronavirus vaccine from AstraZeneca and hopes that people in the U.S. could start being immunized in December.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note climbed to 0.849%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond rose to 1.551%. Yields move inversely to prices.
Treasury yields moved higher as British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced Monday that the coronavirus vaccine it had developed with the University of Oxford is on average 70% effective in protecting against Covid-19.
It comes after encouraging vaccine results in recent weeks. Pfizer and Moderna reported preliminary results showing that their respective Covid vaccines were both more than 90% effective
The string of promising vaccine developments came amid a new wave of infections. Confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. continue to surge at 12,247,488, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
On the data front, business activity continued to recover in November, according to IHS Markit. The firm’s flash reading for the composite purchasing managing index came in at 57.9. Readings above 50 represent an expansion.
Auctions will be held on Monday for $54 billion of 13-week bills and $51 billion of 26-week bills, as well as $56 billion of 2-year notes and $57 billion of 5-year notes.