Reply #65: US Treasury yields at 21-month high; focus on Fed

[UpInArms]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyid=2006-03-06T163139Z_01_N06394937_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-BONDS-UPDATE-1.XML

NEW YORK, March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt prices fell for fourth straight session on Monday as data on factory orders and the real estate market did little to change views that the Federal Reserve will push interest rates higher.

January U.S. factory orders fell a bit less than expected but still recorded their biggest drop since July 2000. However, the report was full of upward revisions of individual components that offered support to the view that the Fed was probably not finished raising short-term interest rates.

That kept downward pressure on prices and yields on benchmark 10-year notes climbed to their highest since June 2004, when the Federal Reserve launched its current campaign to keep economic growth on track by raising interest rates.

January data on pending real estate sales were mixed. They came in higher than expected, but given an upward revision in the prior month's data, actually registered a month-on-month drop suggestive of slowing of home sales.

"The two series are kind of canceling each other out, but the bottom line is that everybody is looking ahead to Friday's non-farm payrolls report," said Mary Ann Hurley, a bond trader with D.A. Davidson & Co. in Seattle. "The heaviness continues," she added.

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