US Treasury debt prices took a spill on Tuesday after data showing record new home sales suggested the Federal Reserve had room to continue raising interest rates.
The market had rallied on Monday for just the opposite reason - when data on existing home sales fell more than expected, stoking speculation of a slowing housing sector.
But such conjecture was quashed, at least for the moment, after a report that suggested demand for new homes was alive and well. Sales of new US homes unexpectedly shot up 13 percent in October.
The gain in sales of new single-family homes was the biggest increase since April 1993 and took sales to a record annual rate of 1.42 million units from an upwardly revised 1.26 million in September, the Commerce Department said.
Benchmark 10-year notes slid 13/32 for a yield of 4.46 percent, up from 4.41 percent late Monday. Two-year notes were especially hard hit, dropping 4/32 to yield 4.39 percent from 4.32 percent.
"The market got spun around," said Brian Robinson, bond strategist at 4Cast, Ltd.
The disproportionate selling in shorter maturities kept the yield curve flat as ever, with spreads between 10- and two-year notes touching a new five-year low of 6 basis points.
Treasuries were also taken aback by a surprising jump in consumer confidence in November, and one that arrived just in time for the crucial holiday shopping season, when retailers notch up as much as a quarter of total annual sales.
Five-year notes slipped 9/32 for a yield of 4.38 percent, while the 30-year bond fell 23/32 to yield 4.65 percent.
The Conference Board's index of consumer moods jumped to 98.9 from 85.2 in October, boding well for holiday shopping.
Americans also turned more optimistic about the labour market. The proportion of respondents saying jobs were "hard to get" fell to 23.2 percent from 25.3 percent.
The Labour Department releases its monthly employment report on Friday. Economists, who expect November to show a resurgence in hiring, are forecasting a median net gain of 210,000 jobs.
This is a week packed with data releases, with high chances of volatility just about the only certainty on the market's horizon.
Durable goods figures released earlier in the session were just mixed enough to have a neutral market impact.
New orders for US-made durable goods jumped a larger-than-expected 3.4 percent in October, although much of it was attributed to a surge in demand for aircraft. Wednesday would bring the government's second snapshot of third quarter gross domestic product, while Thursday marks the release of October's personal consumption expenditures index.
The core PCE, minus volatile prices for food and energy, is the Federal Reserve's favoured inflation index and is therefore closely monitored by market participants as well. Economists look for a 0.2 percent gain for last month.
Comments
Comments are closed.