US Treasuries prices fell on Wednesday with benchmark yields hitting their highest in a week as a recovery in global stock markets and bets on more stimulus from foreign central banks encouraged investors to move into stocks from bonds. Global equities rose in a choppy session for a sixth straight day of gains as investors bought into the prospect of continued support from the world's central banks.
"Central banks around the world are trying to reignite global growth by bringing down their respective rates," said Dan Heckman, senior fixed-income strategist at US Bank Wealth Management in Kansas City, Missouri. The latest jobs report along with concerns about slowing global growth has traders expecting a rate hike no sooner than March 2016 and briefly pushed benchmark yields to their lowest levels since April on Friday.
On the supply front, the US Treasury Department sold $21 billion of 10-year notes to strong investor demand, resulting in a yield of 2.066 percent, the lowest yield since April. The latest US 10-year auction followed a failed German sale where low yields suppressed investor appetite for a 10-year benchmark Bund. It also came on the heels of a mediocre auction of three-year notes on Tuesday.
The Treasury will complete this week's debt sales with a $13 billion auction of 30-year bonds on Thursday. On the open market, benchmark 10-year Treasuries were down 10/32 in price to yield 2.070 percent, up 3.5 basis points from late Tuesday. Earlier, the 10-year yield hit a one-week high of 2.086 percent. The 30-year bond was down 15/32 in price to yield 2.896 percent, up 2 basis points from Tuesday. The 30-year yield earlier touched 2.923 percent, the highest in 1-1/2 weeks.