Global Markets          UST yields eased in April amid renewed demand. Demand for USTs was also supported by Biden’s tax hike proposals, growing US-Russia tension, a sharp rise in global COVID-19 cases, and issues over the Johnson & Johnson vaccine distribution. However, selling pressure re-emerged in the final week. The sell-off was spurred by Biden’s proposa...

Global Markets     Yields in government bonds across the US and the UK continued to surge in March amid continued progress in vaccine rollouts and massive stimulus plans. Both the Fed and the BoE left their key policy rates and pace of bond purchases unchanged. Yields on both the 10y UST and 10y UK gilt were up by 63bps and 4bps to 1.74% and 0.93% (Feb: 1.11% and 0.89%). In contrast...

Global Markets     From the US to Germany and the UK, yields on govvies ended February with their biggest monthly surge in years amid expectations of a rapid post-pandemic recovery, causing a global bond rout. The move first began in the US as prospects for a huge fiscal boost gained significant momentum. Combined with global central banks’ dovish holds, yield curves have steepene...

Global Markets     In January, the UST yield curve steepened further with yields on medium to long-term USTs rising at a quicker pace compared to the previous month. Yields along the 5y30y surged by 9bps to 22bps as the US reflation trade gained momentum. The increased inflation expectations were spurred by the prospects for another massive fiscal stimulus package in the US. In Euro...

Global Markets     In December, the UST yield curve steepened with yields from the belly until the long-end rising amid the strong run in riskier markets. The stronger risk appetite was fuelled by the gradual distribution of vaccines across the US and the passing of the USD900 billion COVID-19 aid bill. Meanwhile, short-end yields were anchored by the Fed’s commitment to asset pur...

Global Markets     USTs were in demand in November despite several COVID-19 vaccine breakthroughs and Joe Biden’s US presidential election victory. Demand was buoyed by uncertainty surrounding the ongoing US fiscal stimulus deadlock and additional stimulus by the Fed. In Europe, peripheral government bond yields (Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece) fell while yields in France and G...

Global Markets     UST yields surged in a steepening bias in October on hopes of fresh new fiscal stimulus as polls indicated the possibility of a Democrat sweep in the US Presidential Election. Yields were also up on positive US economic data releases over the month. The 10y UST was last quoted at 0.88% (Sep: 0.69%). In the euro zone, government bonds rallied amid continued resurge...

Global Markets     Yields on govvies from developed nations continued to fall in September amid a spike in COVID-19 infections, US election uncertainty and prolonged periods of low interest rates. Demand was also driven by: 1) the Fed’s pledge to maintain its FFR target range at 0.0% to 0.25%; 2) negative inflation in the euro zone; and 3) the BOE’s interest to explore negative ...

Global Market     Government bond yields in developed markets bear-steepened significantly in August following the US Fed’s decision to allow inflation to run above its 2% target during the Annual Jackson Hole Symposium. This had led to fears of rising inflationary pressure. Better-than-expected economic data and positive news about the development of a COVID-19 vaccine have also ...

Global Markets     In the US, GDP had contracted by 9.5% y-o-y in 2Q2020, the deepest decline recorded. This was mainly due to the sharp contraction in consumer spending as a result of the US government lockdown. On the monetary front, the Fed left its FFR unchanged and affirmed its dovish stance. The euro zone’s GDP also contracted in 2Q2020 by 15.0% y-o-y which exceeded the USâ€...