Bonds: Yields unchanged as traders digest raft of remarks from Fed speakers
Longer-term US government debt finished the session little changed as traders keyed off of speeches from a raft of Fed policymakers.
Thus, the yield on 10-year US Treasuries could still be seen at 1.89% by the end of trading. Nonetheless, there was some volatility to be seen at the intra-day level.
Traders were still feeling a bit uncertain about the exact direction and timing the US central bank would finally opt for.
In particular, markets appeared to be focusing on remarks from Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer in which he reminded investors the monetary authority cannot hold policy rates at zero forever.
However, soft readings on manufacturing conditions in the US Northeast and housing Stateside helped Treasuries find a bid.
In parallel, ECB governing council member Peter Praet could be heard reiterating Draghi’s stance, from Wednesday, that there were no doubts regarding the potential tapering of QE purchases and that it was not being discussed.
However, speaking in the afternoon the IMF’s Christine Lagarde said Japan and the Eurozone need to improve the effectiveness of their respective asset purchase programmes.
Acting as a backdrop, at one point in the trading day 10-year Greek bond yields rose to 13.2% as investors positioned themselves for the results of the 24 April Eurogroup meeting, as analysts revealed their wariness regarding the possibility of an agreement between Greece and its creditors.