Major government bond yields hit multi-month highs and world stock indexes fell yesterday following a report that Chinese officials have recommended slowing or halting purchases of US government bonds.
The yield on 10-year US Treasury hit a 10-month high, while the dollar slumped against a basket of currencies following the Bloomberg News report.
The Chinese officials, who were not named, said the market for US government bonds is becoming less attractive relative to other assets, according to the report.
They also cited trade tensions with the United States as a reason to slow Treasury purchases, the report said.
China is the largest foreign holder of US government debt, with $1.19 trillion in Treasuries as of October 2017, data from the Treasury Department show.
Germany’s 10-year bond yield hit its highest level since the October European Central Bank meeting when policymakers first announced the extension of its bond-buying scheme, with one trader citing heavy supply as the latest trigger for the move.
A combination of factors has pushed global bond yields higher in recent weeks, with global growth and higher oil prices leading investors to speculate that the world’s major central banks might withdraw from their stimulus programme sooner rather than later.
Some investors saw a reduction of bond purchases by the Bank of Japan this week as a potential indication of this.
Analysts also said the rise in yields across the board is fuelling speculation as to whether this is the start of a sustained bear market for bonds.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 52.2 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 25,333.6, the S&P 500 lost 6.67 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 2,744.62 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 32.02 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 7,131.56.
United States stocks have had a strong start to the year, with the S&P and the Nasdaq having closed at record highs on every single day in 2018, buoyed by optimism over global economic growth and expectations of a strong quarterly earnings.
The pan-European FTSE-urofirst 300 index lost 0.46 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.11 per cent.
Meanwhile, US crude rose 0.64 per cent to $63.36 per barrel and Brent was last at $69.00, up 0.26 per cent.