April 23, 2007

CME to offer new bonds-based contract

by Elaine Frei

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Lehman Brothers announced on Monday plans to create the first exchange-traded contract based on a broad bond index. The new contract will be based on Lehman’s Aggregate Index, which includes Treasury bonds, as well as government-related, corporate, mortgage-backed, asset-backed, and commercial asset-backed securities. All are dollar-denominated. The CME said that portfolio managers would ...

---

April 12, 2007

US government bond yields down

by Elaine Frei

Price on Eurozone government bonds were lower and yields rose after the European Central Bank left rates on hold at 3.75 percent for the time being but sent fairly clear signals that rates would rise again in June. Analysts took that clear indication as a hint that more rate hikes were likely after that. The two-year Schatz added 2 basis ...

---

April 10, 2007

US bond yields decline

by Elaine Frei

With heightened demand from investors from Europe and Japan who were looking for bargain buys, US Treasury bonds saw prices rise and yields fall on Tuesday. At late morning in New York, the two-year Treasury bond had dropped 4 basis points to a yield of 4.692 percent. The ten-year issues, meanwhile, were down 3 basis points to 4.716 percent. Yields were slightly ...

---

April 9, 2007

US Treasuries higher on sell-offs

by Elaine Frei

Yields were up on US Treasury bonds on Monday as sell offs Friday morning continued after the holiday weekend. The selling was triggered by new Labor Department data showing that more jobs had been created than had been anticipated in March, sending the unemployment rate down to 4.4 percent during the month and raising fears that not only would the Federal ...

---

April 5, 2007

UK gilt yields decline

by Elaine Frei

Yields were lower on government bonds in the UK on Thursday after the Bank of England decided to keep interest rates at their current 5.25 percent for the time being. The decision was expected by most analysts, but there are wide expectations that rates will be sent higher next month, at the Monetary Policy Committee’s next meeting. Late in the day in London, ...

---

April 4, 2007

Yields up on five-year Japanese government bond

by Elaine Frei

Once again, Japanese bonds bucked the trend set by the US, the UK and the Eurozone as five-year Japanese government bonds saw yields rise by 4.5 basis points to 1.265 percent on Wednesday. In the US, yields on Treasury bonds dropped on weak new economic data. Employment was up by less than expected in March, according to research firm ADP, ...

---

April 2, 2007

UK gilts yields up on interest rate anxieties

by Elaine Frei

Yields on government bonds were up in the US, the UK and the Eurozone on Monday, leaving Japan as the lone market where prices on government bonds were higher on Monday. The two-year Japanese government bond dropped 1 basis point to a yield of 0.825 percent after the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey of business sentiment was mixed. In ...

---

March 29, 2007

Most government bonds see yields rise

by Elaine Frei

Prices for government bonds were lower on Thursday in Europe, the UK and the US, leaving Japanese government bonds alone with prices higher and yields lower. The ten-year Japanese government bond dropped 3 basis points to yield 1.650 percent. In the United States, Treasury bonds saw yields rise after new data showed that the economy grew faster than had been expected ...

---

March 27, 2007

Bonds prices mixed on day

by Elaine Frei

With US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke scheduled to testify on Wednesday before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, investors were tentative Tuesday as they waited to see if he might expand on the policy statement released by the Fed last week. On the other hand, lower than forecast consumer confidence data didn’t seem to make much difference on the day. At ...

---

March 26, 2007

US Treasury bond yields lower on home sales data

by Elaine Frei

Price on US Treasury bonds rose after it was reported that new home sales in February in the US were down by 3.9 percent when it had been expected that they would be up by 5.1 percent. The new figures raised worries that slow sales could cause the current troubles in the subprime mortgage sector to spread. ...

---

March 22, 2007

Bond yields up in US, UK, Eurozone

by Elaine Frei

Yields on government bonds were up in the United States on Thursday as investors reacted to Wednesday’s decision by the US Federal Reserve to hold interest rates at 5.25 percent for at least another month. At midday in New York, the two-year treasury had added 2.9 basis points to a yield of 4.565 percent, while ten-year paper gained 4.5 ...

---

March 21, 2007

US bond yields drop on Fed interest rate announcement

by Elaine Frei

The price of two- and ten-year US Treasury bonds were up on Wednesday after the announcement that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates at 5.25 percent for at least another month. In the comments accompanying the news, the Fed said that there still remains a risk of inflation, but did not appear to signal any likelihood ...

---

March 19, 2007

UK gilt yields higher on house price growth

by Elaine Frei

Yields were mixed on government bonds in the US, the Eurozone, and in the UK on Monday, while Japanese government bonds were mixed on the day. In the United States, bonds prices dropped as the equities markets saw gains on bids news. In addition, investors were wary about where they put their money ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next ...

---

February 14, 2006

South Africa exchange may offer IPO

by Brian Turner
Following a trend among exchanges worldwide, the Johannesburg Securities Exchange will decide at a meeting in March whether to float an initial public offering as a way of improving corporate governance in the face of increased competition. Many of its largest companies have moved their primary listings to London in the past few years, with listings on the JSE falling from 600 to around 400 since 1999. The exchange became ...

---

September 7, 2005

Inflation concerns hit foreign ADRs

by Brian Turner
Concerns about inflation, higher interest rates, and declines in crude oil prices sent shares of foreign companies traded in the United States lower on Wednesday. The Bank of New York’s index of leading ADRs fell 0.3 percent as retailers and oil stocks were lower on the day. Fueling investors’ worries was a US government report that lower productivity and higher wage costs could lead to inflation and inflation ...

---

August 25, 2005

Prices down and yields up on US Treasury bonds for profit taking

by Brian Turner
Prices were down and yields up on US Treasury bonds as some investors indulged in profit-taking, and on comments by the head of the Chicago Federal Reserve. By late morning trading in New York, the yield on the 2-year Treasury bond had gained 2.4 basis points to reach a yield of 4.012 percent, while the 10-year bond remained at a yield of 4.173 percent. Michael Moscow, who heads the ...

---

August 18, 2005

Eurozone bonds fall to monthly low

by Brian Turner
Yields on eurozone government bonds fell to their lowest level of the month as shaky production numbers and data showing inflation rates under control had little effect on the markets. The 10-year Bund fell by 3 basis points to 3.202 percent, while the 2-year Schatz lost 2.3 basis points to a yield of 2.169 percent. In the UK, gilts saw prices rise and yields fall as well, as ...

---

August 17, 2005

US treasury bonds fall on wholesale pricing report

by Brian Turner
Prices fell and yields rose on US Treasury bonds on Wednesday. Driving the falling prices was the news that wholesale prices in the US were up more than had been expected in July. The reaction to the news was a sell-off even though energy prices were the main factor in the rise, and even though Tuesday’s release of the Consumer Price Index that showed retail prices remaining at ...

---

August 10, 2005

Prices up on US bonds as Fed increases interest rates

by Brian Turner
Prices were up and yields down on US Treasury bonds on Wednesday, mostly on the Federal Reserve’s newest increase in the interest rate, which was announced on Tuesday. In late morning trade, the 5-year bond was down by 1.1 basis point to a yield of 4.227 percent, while the 10-year bond had dropped 1.2 percent to yield 4.38 percent. $13 billion in 5-year bonds were up for auction ...

---

August 9, 2005

Interest rate rise sees US bonds down on yields

by Brian Turner
Yields fell and prices rose on US Treasury bonds on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve took interest rates up another quarter of a percentage point to 3.5 percent. The 10-year Treasury bond lost 2.4 basis points to yield 4.402 percent, while the 2-year bond fell 3.4 basis points to a yield of 4.128 percent. In the UK, gilts saw yields rise on a lower trade deficit in June ...

---