10-year Treasury yield closing in on 3%

May 18, 2011: 2:40 PM ET
Treasuries, yields, bonds

click the chart for current Treasury yields

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The yield on the 10-year note is much closer to 3% than 4%, which many experts are taking as sign that investors are starting to be more worried about a slowdown on the horizon.

"There are fears that maybe the economy is starting to slow down a little bit unexpectedly," said Kim Rupert, managing director of global fixed income analysis, noting whispers of a double-dip recession.

Over the past several weeks, Treasury prices have steadily risen, pushing yields to their lowest levels of the year. With the end of the Fed's $600 billion bond buying program (QE2) just around the corner, many had expected Treasuries to stabilize or even sell off a bit.

But ongoing worries about the global economy (Can you say Greek bailout?), are bubbling back up to the surface.

"If there are ongoing geopolitical risks or other factors that sustain a strong safe haven bid in Treasuries, buyers will outweigh and we'll continue to see yields at this level," said Rupert.

Gross says bond yields may not spike

The decline in yields also reflects concerns over inflation, according to Guy LeBas, Chief Fixed Income Strategist, Janney Montgomery Scott.

He isn't overly concerned about the end of QE2. "Any market participant is very well aware," he said, adding that he expects the yield on the 10-year note to edge up to the 3.5% range by the end of June.

On Wednesday, Treasuries remained in a tight range, with the yield on the 10-year note edging up to 3.17%. Just a couple of weeks ago, the 10-year yield was hovering around 3.6%.

The 30-year yield rose to 4.28%, the 5-year yield ticked up to 1.84%, and the 2-year note was at 0.63%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite direction. To top of page

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%
Data as of 6:29am ET
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%
Data as of 2:44pm ET
Overnight Avg Rate Latest Change Last Week
30 yr fixed3.80%3.88%
15 yr fixed3.20%3.23%
5/1 ARM3.84%3.88%
30 yr refi3.82%3.93%
15 yr refi3.20%3.23%
Rate data provided
by Bankrate.com
View rates in your area
 
Find personalized rates:

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.