Zweijährige US-Anleiherenditen steigen angesichts aggressiver Zinserhöhungsaussichten
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Yoruk Bahceli and Kevin Buckland
NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) -Yields on shorter-maturity U.S. debt soared on Thursday, a day after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell anticipated a cycle of several interest rate hikes by 2022 fueled by a strong labor market and runaway inflation.
* Two-year Treasury yields, which typically reflect projections for U.S. interest rates, rose to 1.208%, at their highest level in nearly two years.
* The yield on the five-year government bond, another instrument that reflects the rate outlook, advanced to 1.701% in early morning trading, a high not seen since December 2019, though it was later trading nearly unchanged intraday at 1.6518%.
* As of early Thursday, fed funds rate futures began to mostly incorporate bets for five Fed rate hikes this year, following comments from Powell that fueled perceptions of a more hawkish monetary stance.
* For the March meeting, fed funds futures are pointing to a tightening of about 31 basis points, while the market also estimates a 20% probability that the Fed will raise its benchmark rate by 50 basis points.
* The forecast compares with four hikes predicted by the market ahead of the central bank’s policy meeting on Wednesday.
* Powell said Wednesday that there is „plenty of room to raise interest rates without threatening the labor market which, by so many measures, is historically tight.“
* In afternoon trading in New York, U.S. two-year bond yields were up nearly 8 basis points to 1.1683%, while yields on five-year debt added 1 basis point to 1.6550%.
* The return on 10-year debt gave up five basis points to 1.8119%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury note fell eight basis points to 2.1016%.
* The yield curve between the 2-year and 10-year paper flattened to 62.8 basis points, the lowest level since late November.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez in New York, York Bahceli and Kevin Buckland; additional reporting by Wayne Cole. Edited in Spanish by Marion Giraldo and Javier Leira.)