US 2-year yield reaches highest since 2011 on Fed rate view

NEW YORK — Treasuries fell, pushing two-year yields to the highest since 2011, as a report showing strengthening service-sector growth enhanced speculation the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates.

U.S. yields rose as traders saw an increased likelihood that the Fed will boost its benchmark as soon as next month. A government report Friday is projected to show the U.S. unemployment rate held at the lowest since 2008.

The services report "is consistent with an optimistic outlook on the U.S. economy and certainly adds to the potential the Fed goes forward with a September rate hike," said Ian Lyngen, a government-bond strategist at CRT Capital Group LLC in Stamford, Connecticut.

Benchmark 10-year yields rose five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 2.27 percent, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader data. The 2.125 percent note due in May 2025 fell about 3/8, or $3.75 per $1,000 face amount, to 98 23/32.

Two-year yields reached 0.76 percent, the highest since April 2011.

The Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index jumped to 60.3, the best reading since 2005 and above the most optimistic projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The Labor Department report is projected to show employers, including government agencies, took on 225,000 workers last month, while the jobless rate held at a seven-year low of 5.3 percent.

Traders are pricing in a 50 percent probability that the Fed will raise interest rates in September, based on the assumption that the effective fed funds rate will average 0.375 percent after the first increase. That compares with 42 percent a week earlier.

----

With assistance from Alexandra Scaggs in New York.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

By Susanne Walker Barton

Source: The Washington Post



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world