Treasuries Gain as Fed Buys Debt Amid Rising Mortgage Rates
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602007&sid=aLpR.GTBQfr0&refer=govt_bonds#
By Susanne Walker and Matthew Brown
May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries rose as the Federal Reserve began the first of three buybacks of U.S. debt this week amid speculation the central bank will increase its purchases as rising yields send mortgage rates above 5 percent.
Thirty-year bonds led the gains as the Fed began buying government securities maturing between August 2026 and February 2039, its 17th buyback since the $300 billion, six-month purchase program began on March 25. The yield on the 30-year bond climbed last week to the highest since November amid concern about record levels of borrowing. Stocks fell.
“The buybacks will be the catalyst to move the market around more than anything else,” said Theodore Ake, head of U.S. Treasury trading in New York at Mizuho Securities USA Inc., one of 16 primary dealers that trade with the Federal Reserve. “As rates climb, it puts pressure on mortgage rates, which puts pressure on the Fed to buy back paper to keep rates lower.”
The 30-year bond yield fell six basis points, or 0.06 percentage point, to 4.22 percent as of 10:28 a.m. in New York, according to BGCantor Market data. The 4.25 percent security due in May 2039 gained 31/32, or $9.69 per $1,000 face amount, to 100 19/32. Ten-year yields fell six basis points to 3.22 percent.
Mortgage Rates
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 1.8 percent after an increase of 5.9 percent last week.
Treasury 10-year yields have risen for seven consecutive weeks, the longest advance in five years, as President Barack Obama borrows record amounts to stimulate the economy and service a widening budget deficit. The government will sell $3.25 trillion of debt in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, according to primary dealer Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Obama’s administration raised its estimate of the deficit this year to $1.84 trillion, up 5 percent from the February estimate, and to $1.26 trillion next year, up 7.4 percent. The administration also projected Obama’s budget for 2010 will end up at $3.59 trillion, compared with the $3.55 trillion it estimated previously.
The Treasury begins its next round of auctions on May 26 with sales of two-, five- and seven year securities over three consecutive days. The government sold $71 billion in securities last week.
The rise in yields sent average rates on 30-year mortgages to 5.03 percent on May 6, the highest since April 7, according to North Palm Beach, Florida-based Bankrate.com.
‘Relatively Tight’
BlackRock Inc., American Century Investments, Federated Investors and Pioneer Investment Management say it’s time to purchase Treasuries because the Fed will need to expand its buybacks to keep down consumer borrowing costs.
“The Fed needs to consider increasing its purchases of Treasuries,” said Stuart Spodek, co-head of U.S. bonds in New York at BlackRock, which manages $483 billion in debt. Spodek said he resumed buying Treasuries. “We are still in a recession. It’s quite bad. They need to stabilize long-term rates.”
The Fed has bought $92.215 billion in U.S. debt since announcing the purchases on March 18. The central bank will buy notes maturing between May 2012 and August 2013 tomorrow and securities maturing between May 2010 and February 2011 on May 14.
Credit Markets
Other parts of the credit market show government and central bank efforts to restore trading are working. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, that banks charge for three- month loans fell two basis points to 0.92 percent, extending the longest period of declines since February 2008. The Libor-OIS spread, a gauge of banks’ reluctance to lend, fell to the lowest level since July 2.
Increased supply and signs of improvement in the economy have sent Treasuries lower so far 2009. U.S. securities have handed investors a 3.9 percent loss this year, according to Merrill Lynch & Co.’s Treasury Master index.
The declines are the largest since a 4.94 percent decline over the same period in 1994, according to Merrill’s indexes. That year the Fed began raising its target rate to contain inflation in a cycle of monetary tightening that peaked at 5.25 percent in 2006.
More Bearish
Fund managers became more bearish on the outlook for Treasuries through the end of 2009, a survey by Ried, Thunberg & Co. shows.
The company’s sentiment index dropped to 42 for the seven days ended May 8, from 44 the week before. A reading below 50 means investors expect prices to fall. The economic analysis firm in Jersey City, New Jersey, surveyed 24 investors controlling $1.22 trillion.
Bill Gross, manager of Pacific Investment Management Co.’s $150 billion Total Return Fund, reduced his holdings of U.S. government debt last month for the first time since January, cutting government debt as a percentage of assets to 26 percent in April from 28 percent in March, according to the Newport Beach, California-based company’s Web site.