aggiornamento della curva rendimenti US e Pimco Pallino che considera come fair value un 3,5% di rendimenti per il 10y
Oil prices, PIMCO comments underpin U.S. Treasuries
By Anchalee Worrachate
LONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries edged higher on
Wednesday, following an overnight rally triggered by a spike in
oil prices and comments by an influential fund manager that the
Fed Reserve may soon stop raising interest rates.
Oil prices have hit new highs in each of the last three
trading sessions as fears of a possible producer-country supply
disruption compounded concerns about a winter fuel crunch,
prompting speculators to bet on a push above $60 a barrel.
Although oil prices were stabilising around $59 on
Wednesday, the pause did very little to change a view that
higher energy costs will hinder economic growth, and keep
interest rates low -- a scenario that benefits bonds.
The market also drew support from comments by Bill Gross,
manager of the giant PIMCO bond fund which manages $445 billion
in fixed income securities.
Gross on Tuesday predicted the Fed would pause its
tightening after pushing rates to 3.5 percent from 3.0 now.
"It's a view that many in the market share, and that has
supported bonds. In fact, I think the Fed might pause as early
as 3.25 percent. The U.S. economy is definitely slowing down and
a rise in oil prices doesn't help," said Stuart Thomson at
Edinburgh-based brokerage Charles Stanley Sutherlands.
"The rise in oil prices is worrying because it's a supply
problem and not a demand problem. What it means is that
companies cannot pass on rising costs to consumer. That hurts
profit margins, investment, and employment. We think 10-year
yields at 3.50 percent by year-end would be a fair value."
At 0910 GMT, the two-year notes price was up 2/32, knocking
yields down 2.5 basis points to 3.668 percent. The 10-year note
<US10YT=RR> was up 8/32, taking the yield to 4.018 percent.
Adding support to the bond market were the Bank of England's
minutes which revealed that two of the Monetary Policy
Committee's nine members voted for rate cut at their June 8-9
meeting, confounding market expectations of a 9-0 vote for a
steady rate.
British gilts surged on the report, dragging euro zone debt
along with it as the BoE minutes raised speculation that the
European Central Bank might soon cut rates after keeping
borrowing costs at 2.00 percent since June 2003.
"The market took the minutes to mean the BoE has switched
tack from tightening to easing. The rally in gilts seemed to
have spilled over to euro zone bonds, and to a lesser extent
U.S. Treasuries," said a trader at European bank in London.
Five-year yields <US5YT=RR> were down 4.3 basis points at
3.79 percent. Meanwhile, the ultra-long 30-year debt yield
<US30YT=RR> was at 4.294 percent, up 3.6 basis points from the
U.S. close.
Analysts said market positioning should continue to providee
support to U.S. Treasuries at least in the near-term.
A survey by JP Morgan showed U.S. domestic funds remained
predominantly short bonds, although international investors have
covered some of their significant shorts.
Treasuries were underperforming Bunds which continued to
benefit from speculation that the ECB might cut rates later this
year, with the 10-year yield spread widening to 90 basis point
from 88 basis points on Tuesday.
The 10-year dollar swap spread stood at 37.75 basis points,
compared with 39.75 basis points in the U.S. on Tuesday.