By Rom Badilla, CFA – Bondsquawk.com
U.S. Treasury yields reversed yesterday’s massive decline by inching higher in today’s trading as the yield curve steepened. The Long Bond sold off and underperformed the rest of the maturity spectrum as the yield increased 7 basis points to 4.27 percent. The yield on the 10-Year closed the week at 3.42 percent, an increase of 3 basis points while the 5-Year was relatively flat, inching up short of a basis point to 1.16 percent. The yield on the 2-Year closed higher by 3 basis points to 0.82 percent.
10-Year Treasury Yield Intraday Chart
Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. Corporate Index closed the day at a spread of 184 basis points over comparable duration Treasuries, an increase of 8 basis points on the day. The High Yield Master Index increased another 21 basis points to close out this volatile week at a spread of 647 basis points.
Spread on MER High Yield Index Year-To-Date Chart
Stocks were down again after yesterday’s drop and before heading into the weekend. The S&P 500 declined 17.27 points or a loss of 1.5 percent to 1110.88. The VIX closed up higher by more than 8 points to 40.95 , a gain of 24.9 percent.
For a recap on Greece as well as news on European debt, click here.
The Euro finally found a respite and reversed its week long slide. The Euro appreciated by more than a percent to 1.2755. The Dollar Index declined by 0.6 percent to 84.352 after reaching a one year high yesterday.
Gold Spot prices finished relatively flat after yesterday’s run-up. Gold closed out the week at 1208.40.
Have a great weekend!!!
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.