By Stephen Kirkland and Lynn Thomasson - Mar 15, 2012 6:40 PM GMT+0700
Treasuries fell for a seventh day, the longest run of declines since June 2006, before data that may show U.S. manufacturing expanded and fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits. U.S. stock-index futures rose, European shares were little changed and the pound weakened.
The 10-year Treasury yield climbed two basis points to 2.29 percent at 7:35 a.m. in New York, with the similar-maturity German bund yield advancing one basis point. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose 0.2 percent and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) was little changed near the highest level since July. The pound depreciated against 11 of its 16 most-traded peers, while the euro snapped a two-day drop versus the dollar. Soybeans jumped to a six-month high.
The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits fell last week while manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded, economists said before reports today. Photographer: Paul Taggart/Bloomberg
March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Sarat Sethi, a principal and portfolio manager at Douglas C. Lane & Associates, talks about the outlook for U.S. Treasuries and investment strategy. Sethi speaks with Sara Eisen and Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)
March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Brinda Jagirdar, general manager and head of economic research at the State Bank of India, discusses the Reserve Bank of India's decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 8.5 percent and growth expectations for the country. She speaks from Mumbai with Owen Thomas on Bloomberg Television's "Countdown." (Source: Bloomberg)
March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Nick Bennenbroek, head of currency strategy at Wells Fargo & Co., talks about the outlook for the euro, dollar and currency market volatility. He speaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television's "In the Loop." (Source: Bloomberg)
March 15 (Bloomberg) –- Craig Ferguson, a currency hedge fund manager at Antipodean Capital Management in Melbourne, talks about U.S. stocks. Ferguson also talks about Federal Reserve monetary policy, the U.S. bond market and the outlook for the dollar. He speaks with Rishaad Salamat on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)
March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Liran Blum, head of foreign exchange and local market trading at Nomura Holdings Inc., talks about the February U.S. employment report and its impact on the value of the dollar. Liran, speaks with Stephanie Ruhle on Bloomberg Television's "In Business With Margaret Brennan." (Source: Bloomberg)
The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits fell last week while manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded, economists said before reports today. U.K. borrowing costs rose at the sale of 30-year bonds after Fitch Ratings said Britain risks losing its top investment-grade status.
“The U.S. economy is undoubtedly getting better,” said Kiyoshi Ishigane, a senior strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co., which oversees about $71 billion in Tokyo. “The bond market is likely to remain weak.”
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose to as high as 2.35 percent, the most since Oct. 28. The average yield on 1,277 government debt securities in Merrill Lynch’s Global Sovereign Broad Market Plus Index climbed to 1.743 percent yesterday from 1.647 percent on March 7. The yield was 2.274 percent a year ago.
Average Rate
While Treasury yields are rising, the 10-year rate is about 1.5 percentage points less than last year’s high of 3.77 percent reached on Feb. 9. The yield averaged 3.87 percent in the past decade.
The gain in S&P 500 futures indicated the U.S. equities gauge will rebound from yesterday’s 0.1 percent drop. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) has risen for the past six days, its longest rally in more than a year.
A government report at 8:30 a.m. in Washington may show the number of Americans applying for jobless benefits fell by 5,000 to 357,000 last week, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Other data may show manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded in March, while growth in New York factory output slowed.
The Stoxx 600 fell less than 0.1 percent. HeidelbergCement AG, the world’s third-largest maker of cement, jumped 3.5 percent after predicting operating profit and sales will rise this year. Pernod-Ricard SA declined 2.7 percent as Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA sold a 499 million-euro ($651 million) stake in the producer of wines and spirits.
Gilts Fall
The 10-year U.K. gilt yield climbed two basis points to 2.36 percent, while sterling depreciated 0.3 percent against the euro. The U.K. sold 2 billion pounds ($3.1 billion) of bonds maturing in December 2042 at an average yield of 3.431 percent, up from 3.287 percent at an auction of similar-maturity debt in December.
The Spanish 10-year bond yield fell one basis points as the government sold 3 billion euros of bonds, compared with a maximum target of 3.5 billion euros it set for the sale. The bid-to-cover ratio for notes maturing in April 2016 was 4.13, compared with 2.21 when the notes were sold in January.
The 10-year French bond declined for the second day, with the yield rising three basis points, as the debt office auctioned sold 8.46 billion euros of notes, at the top end of the 8.5 billion euros targeted.
Swiss Central Bank
The Swiss franc strengthened 0.4 percent against the dollar and 0.2 percent versus the euro as the Swiss central bank kept its cap on the franc unchanged and said deflation still threatens the economy even as growth shows signs of stabilizing.
The Swiss National Bank, led by interim Chairman Thomas Jordan, maintained the franc ceiling at 1.20 francs per euro, as forecast by all 14 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The Zurich-based central bank said in an e-mailed statement today that it also kept its benchmark interest rate at zero.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) fell less than 0.1 percent, halting a two-day, 1.6 percent advance. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.7 percent after foreign direct investment in China dropped for a fourth straight month, taking its two- decline to 3.3 percent, the most since Aug. 9. The BSE India Sensitive Index lost 1.4 percent, its first retreat in five days, as the central bank kept rates on hold. The Micex Index (MICEX) lost 0.3 percent in Moscow, snapping two days of gains.
Soybeans rose as much as 1 percent to $13.635 a bushel, the highest price since Sept. 16. Natural gas dropped 1.3 percent to $2.3866 per a million British thermal units. Oil rose 0.3 percent to $105.78 a barrel, and copper gained 0.5 percent.
To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at swallace6@bloomberg.net
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