NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Government bond prices lost some of their recent luster as some positive news came from overseas and a couple of better-than-expected economic reports sparked a buying spree in stocks.
A report from payroll processing firm ADP showed a gain of 93,000 private sector jobs in November. That marked the 10th consecutive month of increases, and came in much better than the 58,000 increase than economists had forecast.
A second economic report showed that U.S. manufacturing activity expanded for the 16th straight month in November.
That sent the Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX), and Nasdaq (COMP) rallying to end more than 2% higher as investor appetite for risk returned with a vengeance. When stocks rise, investors tend to shift out of the the safe haven of government bonds into riskier but higher yielding equities.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year note rallied to 2.96% from 2.81% late Tuesday. Yields for the 30-year bond rose to 4.24%, from 4.12%. The yield on the 5-year note rose to 1.62% and the yield on the 2-year was flat at 0.44%.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The global market factor: The shift away from U.S. Treasuries started even before the U.S. stock markets opened. Asian markets all ended the session higher after a couple of reports showed China's economy strengthening.
And European stocks also pushed higher, buoyed by comments from European Central Bank Chairman Jean-Claude Trichet indicating that the central bank willing to support struggling nations.
"With the perceived help that the eurozone is getting in terms of injection of money, that has given the equity markets a huge boost and the bond market is reacting appropriately," said Kenneth Naehu, Managing Director and Head of Fixed Income at Bel Air Investment Advisors.
The ECB recently announced an €85 billion bailout for Ireland, and Trichet's public comments that the bank was willing to do the same for other nations eased investor nerves. And the ECB may well have to shore up Spain in the near future.
While the economic reports coming out of the U.S. Wednesday were encouraging, "it is really the global, macro picture in the marketplace" that is affecting prices. Investors are paying particularly close attention to the European economy right now.
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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