NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Bond prices ended slightly higher on Tuesday, though the market experienced some flagging demand for longer-dated bills during last week's $81 billion in auctions.
What prices are doing: The benchmark 10-year note gained 8/32 to 99-22/32, pushing the yield down to 3.66% from 3.69% late Friday. The Treasury market was closed yesterday in observance of Presidents Day.
The 30-year bond rose 10/32 to trade at 99-28/32 and its yield was 4.63%. The 2-year note ticked up 2/32 to 100-4/32.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
What's driving prices: Government debt trade was choppy Tuesday. Earlier in the session, investors fled the safety of bonds and turned to higher yielding equities as stock indexes rallied on a weaker dollar and drugmaker Merck's (MRK, Fortune 500) better-than-expected quarterly results
Longer dated bills were under more pressure Tuesday morning and afternoon as concern grew that the Treasury market is no longer able to support continued weeks of record debt auctions.
The worries were sparked last Thursday, when the government sold $16 billion worth of 30-year bonds. The bid-to-cover ratio, a measure of demand, was 2.36. That was down from 2.68 at the previous auction in January.
What experts are saying: "Investors are still concerned today that bidders dropped dramatically," said Kenneth Naehu, managing director and head of fixed income at Bel Air Investment Advisors. "We've been issuing this record debt, and the market is jumpy on any sign of saturation."
Coming up Thursday, the government is slated to announce a heavy issuance for next week. It will auction 3-month, 6-month, 2-year, 5-year, 7-year and 30-year bonds.
"I don't think anyone's overly concerned quite yet, but investors are nervous and that will put pressure on prices," Naehu said. "One or two months of lower demand doesn't necessarily mean a trend, but in this environment any change is something to watch."
Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
---|---|---|---|
30 yr fixed | 3.80% | 3.88% | |
15 yr fixed | 3.20% | 3.23% | |
5/1 ARM | 3.84% | 3.88% | |
30 yr refi | 3.82% | 3.93% | |
15 yr refi | 3.20% | 3.23% |
Today's featured rates:
Index | Last | Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Dow | 32,627.97 | -234.33 | -0.71% |
Nasdaq | 13,215.24 | 99.07 | 0.76% |
S&P 500 | 3,913.10 | -2.36 | -0.06% |
Treasuries | 1.73 | 0.00 | 0.12% |
Company | Price | Change | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Ford Motor Co | 8.29 | 0.05 | 0.61% |
Advanced Micro Devic... | 54.59 | 0.70 | 1.30% |
Cisco Systems Inc | 47.49 | -2.44 | -4.89% |
General Electric Co | 13.00 | -0.16 | -1.22% |
Kraft Heinz Co | 27.84 | -2.20 | -7.32% |
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