U.S. Treasury yields rose Wednesday after reports said Chinese officials were amenable to a “partial” trade deal, stirring a stock-market surge and putting bonds under pressure.
What are Treasurys doing?
The 10-year Treasury note yield TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.49% climbed 5.3 basis points to 1.585%, while the 2-year note rate TMUBMUSD02Y, +0.00% was up 5 basis points to 1.474%. The 30-year bond yield TMUBMUSD30Y, -0.09% picked up 5.1 basis points to 2.085%.
What’s driving Treasurys?
Reports said China was open to a limited trade resolution with the U.S., while a separate report from the Financial Times indicated that China had offered to increase annual purchases of soy beans to 30 million tons, from the current 20 million tons.
Investors hopes’ for a deal are running high with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He set to visit Washington on Thursday.
Bolstered hopes for even a partial deal to the U.S.-China tariff spat boosted investor sentiment. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.91% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.70% were on course to close higher on Wednesday.
See: U.S.-China Trade Talks Keep Getting More Complicated. That’s Not Good for Investors
The Federal Reserve also garnered some attention after the release of the minutes from its September meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. The minutes showed senior Fed officials remained concerned about the trade outlook, with some even noting the increased chance of a recession.
Analysts said the results for an auction of $24 billion of 10-year notes didn’t attract much attention, failing to influence trading for government paper.
What did market participants’ say?
“Treasury prices are softer due to China’s willingness to a partial trade deal with the U.S.,” said Tom di Galoma, managing director of Treasurys trading at Seaport Global Securities.
But “it is likely that the Trump administration could very well indicate they do not want a partial trade deal with China. If that happens, a “risk-off” trade will take place,” said di Galoma.