By Ben Eisen, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Treasury prices retreated Friday as
investors pushed into riskier assets after a surprise easing
measure by the Japanese central bank.
The Bank of Japan said Friday that it would quicken the pace of
its purchases of Japanese Government Bonds as it fights a falling
inflation rate. So-called quantitative easing measures tend to have
the effect of encouraging investors to buy riskier securities like
stocks.
As equities surged across the globe Friday, investors left the
perceived safety of U.S. government debt. The moves in Treasurys
underscored a broader shift in the market.
"I think what we continue to see is that interest-rate markets
have become global in that cross-economy impacts are becoming
greater," said Scott Kimball, portfolio manager at Miami-based
Taplin, Canida & Habacht, a unit of BMO Global Asset
Management.
The 10-year Treasury note (10_YEAR) yield, which rises as prices
fall, was up 3 basis points on the day at 2.337%. The yield closed
at its highest level in three weeks. It rose 6.5 basis points on
the week but fell 17 basis points on the month, according to
Tradeweb.
The market also focused a few key data points on Friday:
Despite a sharp drop in yields in mid-October, which briefly
pushed the 10-year note below 2%, the market retraced most of those
moves. Given concerns about where interest rates are headed, yields
could be poised to rise next month.
"November appears to be setting up for a re-run of the early
September sell-off in bonds that was short-lived, but nonetheless
aggressive as it unfolded into mid-September," said Richard
Gilhooly, U.S. director of interest-rate strategy at TD Securities,
in a note.
See: Get ready for déjà vu in the credit markets
The 30-year bond (30_YEAR) yield rose 3.5 basis points to 3.070%
while the 5-year note (5_YEAR) yield rose 3 basis points to
1.611%.
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