Bonds stuck in tight range before Bernanke
New Fed chairman expected to remain hawkish on inflation in upcoming Congressional testimony.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Bonds traded in a tight range Monday ahead of possibly hawkish Congressional testimony from new Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. The benchmark 10-year note rose 2/32 to 99-11/32 to yield 4.58 percent, little changed from the previous session.
The 30-year bond was relatively unchanged at 99-1/32, yielding 4.56 percent. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. The two-year gained one tick, yielding 4.68 percent, the five-year note was also up 3/32 to yield 4.57 percent. "With no data today, the snowstorm, and then Bernanke (testifying) on Wednesday -- the three of these are keeping people on the sidelines right now," Adam Brown, co-head of Treasury debt trading at Barclay's Capital, told Reuters. Bernanke, who took the helm of the Federal Reserve from Alan Greenspan two weeks ago, is scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday, his first public appearance to discuss the economy and monetary policy since becoming central bank chief. Speculation is swirling that the Fed will raise interest rates further to stem inflation in the face of high energy prices and a strong economy, thus Bernanke's testimony will be closely watched. In the fall, the conventional wisdom was that the Fed would probably stop boosting rates somewhere around the 4.25 or 4.5 percent mark. But an economist told CNNMoney.com Monday that an increase to 4.75 percent in March is all but assured and a further bump to 5 percent in May is now very likely. In currency trading, the dollar slipped slightly after rallying earlier in the session. The dollar bought ¥117.76, down from ¥117.92 late Friday. The euro bought $1.1896, up from $1.1895 in the previous session. _____________________ For bond charts, click here. |
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