Grande Andrea
DJ Debt Futures Review: Some Tech Weakness, But 10s Around Support
By Allen Sykora
BEND, Ore. (Dow Jones)--Interest-rate futures in Chicago settled sharply
lower Wednesday, hurt by profit taking on long positions, weaker energy
prices, an upward revision to gross domestic product and comments from a
prominent fund manager.
Some technical weakness occurred, as the Dec 10-year notes fell through a
two-week trendline after putting in a double top. The market is hovering right
around another key support area, a break of which could mean another half-
point drop, a technician said.
Dec 10-year notes fell 19 ticks at 112-25, Dec Treasury bonds fell 28
ticks to 112-20, and Mar Eurodollars lost 4 basis points at 97.44.
The market was softer from the open due to profit taking brought about
when the recent upward momentum ran out of steam in the long end of the yield
curve, contacts reported first thing Wednesday morning.
Andrew Chaveriat, technical analyst in New York with BNP Paribas, pointed
out that as the Dec 10-year futures pulled back, they essentially left a
double top at Thursday's high of 113-25.5 and Tuesday's peak of 113-23.5. As
they retreated, they subsequently "obliterated" a two-week trendline support
that had been around 113-10, he said.
"Now, we're flirting with this longer-term up channel that comes from the
end of July," he said. "That comes in around 112-26. We have gotten down to
112-22 today on the Dec contract. So we're right on top of this channel.
"The shorter-term channel from September (that had passed through 113-10)
might not scare too many people. But if we (convincingly) break this July
channel, you might arguably make the case that we have finished this rally
from May. We could be in for some deeper sell-offs ahead, initially toward the
June up channel, which comes in around 111-20, and then perhaps to the August
base just below 111."
The area around the day's low could provide some support on the basis of
factors other than the trendline, said Chaveriat. The futures had peaked at
112-22.5 on Sept. 1, which became support when it failed as resistance. Also,
the futures held around 112-21 and 112-22.5 on Sept. 17 and 21.
"So some short-term traders could try to buy around 112-22 and see if we
can push it back to 113," Chaveriat said. "But the risk is that we take that
(nearby support) out and move down toward 112-08."
The latter area emerged as support around the middle of September, when
the Dec 10-years put in lows of 112-08 on Sept. 15 and 112-07 on Sept. 16,
said Chaveriat. "Breaking below the 112-08 support would confirm a bearish
reversal," he said.
Alex Li, interest-rate strategist in New York with Credit Suisse First
Boston, attributed some of the weakness to the debt market building in
some "concession" ahead of a two-year note auction. Essentially, he said,
there was an effort to push prices lower and yields higher in order to make
the auction more desirable for dealers and investors.
"There was also some comments from PIMCO's Bill Gross about cutting U.S.
Treasury holdings," Li added.
Gross, who runs the world's largest bond fund, suggested that the actual
rate of inflation is higher than the government has been estimating. Thus,
Gross said, if investors are holding bonds due to benign inflation, "they had
better cash some of them in."
When the two-year auction results came out Wednesday afternoon, they had
little impact on a market already on the defensive, said Li. The bid-to-cover
ratio, an indication of demand, was a respectable 2.20 and indirect bidders,
which include foreign central banks, accounted for roughly half the total.
Other factors blamed for the market's weakness were lower energy costs
and the stronger-than-forecast revision for second-quarter gross domestic
product.
Nov crude, after getting above $50 again early in the day, eventually
settled with a loss of 39 cents to $49.51. However, at one point, it was all
the way down to $48.40. Higher energy costs lately had helped the bond market
on worries that surging oil prices could derail economic momentum, meaning
that pullbacks in oil tended to result in softer interest-rate futures.
"It's been very consistent for the last 2 1/2 weeks, this cross-market
pricing behavior," said John Herrmann, director of economic commentary in New
York with Cantor Viewpoint.
As for Wednesday morning's data, the government said second-quarter gross
domestic product grew 3.3%, up from the previously reported 2.8%. Expectations
had been for around 3.0% to 3.1%.
Several economic reports are on the calendar for Thursday. They include:
-- August personal income, forecast to be up 0.4%, and spending, forecast
to be up 0.1%, at 0730 CT (1230 GMT);
-- first-time weekly jobless claims, also due out at 0730 CT, expected to
be around 345,000, down from 350,000 in the prior reporting period; and
-- the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, scheduled for 0900 CT (1400
GMT), forecast to rise to 58.0 in September from 57.3 in August.
-By Allen Sykora; Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765;
[email protected]
(END) Dow Jones Newswires