Market Update

US Treasury Notes fell today, pushing the 10-year note’s yield to its highest since July, strong US growth and higher energy prices fanned concerns inflation will accelerate. Thirty-year Treasury bonds got hammered for loss of 1.45% (a big one-day hit for bonds) pushing the yield up 0.13% to 4.82% and the dollar lost nearly a half-percent. A bad unemployment claims number could lift the bond market tommorrow. Emerging-market bonds also got clubbed, led by Brazil and South Africa, on concern higher yields in the US will reduce the attractiveness of developing nations’ debt.

Interest-rate sensitive groups like homebuilding (-2.2%), utility (-1.9%) and financial (-1.3%) got hammered while weakness in airlines dragged transportation lower and health care, consumer staples and consumer discretionary were also influential sectors closing lower... Technology closed mixed, as solid gains in networking (+1.2%) were not enough to offset weakness in semiconductor, software and hardware... The dollar lost ground against the yen (103.96), after Japan saw leading indicators reach the best level since August, and the euro (1.3387), amid possible rate hikes in Europe...there was profit taking in Energy, it came off its highs and turned negative over the last hour..


Tommorow the Treasury concludes this months bond auctions. This months bond market unwind should continue through mid day tommorrow. Money is flowing from profit taking in equities (energy, materials, homebuilders, MREITS) and existing bond sales into the new bond auction, and to prop up select B2B internet and semiconductor stocks. This sector is the next bear trap being set for the not so smart money in April.

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