Insights into this week's US Treasury refunding: 3-, 10-, and 30-year overview.

Insights into this week's US Treasury refunding: 3-, 10-, and 30-year overview.

Bonds
Althea Spinozzi

Head of Fixed Income Strategy

Summary:

  • This week’s three- and ten-year auctions are likely to draw solid demand. Despite record large auctions size, the risk-reward offered by these tenors is favorable amidst the macroeconomic backdrop.
  • Monitor the 30-year tenor for duration demand. The 30-year tenor might offer crucial insights into investors’ duration preferences. Given persistent inflation, extending duration remains a directional bet on disinflation pressures and early rate cuts.
  • Robust duration demand could drive 10-year yields down to 4.31%. Yet, as inflation remains sticky a rebound above 4.5% in 10-year yields is likely.

Anticipated Market Dynamics.

The US Treasury is set to auction $125 billion worth of coupon-bearing US Treasuries this week, spanning 3-, 10-, and 30-year tenors. Encouragingly, May brings with it $286 billion in coupon redemptions, $154 billion of which are due next week, bolstering demand and likely resulting in robust bidding metrics despite ongoing quantitative tightening (QT) operating at full speed this month, with plans for a slowdown next month.

We anticipate positive market reception for the 3- and 10-year US Treasury auctions, while exercising caution regarding the 30-year tenor. Although the auction size for the 3- and 10-year Treasuries is poised to reach record highs, their risk-reward profile appears compelling amidst a continuously evolving macroeconomic landscape. This should position the notes favorably to capitalize on upcoming redemptions and potential rotation from riskier assets.

In contrast, the proposition presented by the 30-year bonds is distinct, carrying the highest duration in the US yield curve and offering a yield lower than those in the front end of the curve. Extending duration at a time when inflation remains persistent suggests a directional bet on swift disinflation pressures, likely leading to early and aggressive rate cuts.

Interestingly, over the past two years, 10-year US Treasury auctions have often tailed When-Issued trading, with only four months seeing stop-throughs. Conversely, stop-throughs are more frequent in the 3- and 30-year tenors, with 30-year auctions experiencing tails in 11 out of 24 instances. The outperformance of 30-year auctions over 10-year auctions may be attributed to their smaller size, which mitigates the risk of tail.

What implications does this hold for bond markets?

This week will test the demand for duration. The positive sentiment prevailing in bond markets comes at a time when supply is entering the market. Following the release of weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls data, bond markets have adjusted their expectations, now pricing in two rate cuts by year-end, compared to nearly one cut just days earlier. This shift has resulted in lower yields across the yield curve.

Should strong bidding metrics and a stop-through occur for the 10- and 30-year notes, it could amplify the rally, potentially driving 10-year yields down to 4.31%.

Conversely, if bidding metrics are weak, particularly concerning longer-duration issues, we might observe further bear-steepening of the yield curve.

As divergence between the yield price and RSI suggests, the former is more likely. Yet from a mid-term perspective yields are likely to continue to rise if inflation remains sticky.

Source: Bloomberg.

Analyzing the upsides and downsides of this week's 3-, 10-, and 30-year auctions.

Source: Saxo Group.

Other recent Fixed Income articles:

02-May FOMC Meeting Takeaways: Why Inflation Risk Might Come to Bite the Fed
30-Apr FOMC preview: challenging the March dot plot.
29-Apr Bond Markets: the week ahead
25-Apr A tactical guide to the upcoming quarterly refunding announcement for bond and stock markets
22-Apr Analyzing market impacts: insights into the upcoming 5-year and 7-year US Treasury auctions.
18-Apr Italian BTPs are more attractive than German Schatz in today's macroeconomic context
16-Apr QT Tapering Looms Despite Macroeconomic Conditions: Fear of Liquidity Squeeze Drives Policy
08-Apr ECB preview: data-driven until June, Fed-dependent thereafter.
03-Apr Fixed income: Keep calm, seize the moment.
21-Mar FOMC bond takeaway: beware of ultra-long duration.
18-Mar Bank of England Preview: slight dovish shift in the MPC amid disinflationary trends.
18-Mar FOMC Preview: dot plot and quantitative tightening in focus.
12-Mar US Treasury auctions on the back of the US CPI might offer critical insights to investors.
07-Mar The Debt Management Office's Gilts Sales Matter More Than The Spring Budget.
05-Mar "Quantitative Tightening" or "Operation Twist" is coming up. What are the implications for bonds?
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27-Feb Defense bonds: risks and opportunities amid an uncertain geopolitical and macroeconomic environment.
23-Feb Two-year US Treasury notes offer an appealing entry point.
21-Feb Four reasons why the ECB keeps calm and cuts later.
14 Feb Higher CPI shows that rates volatility will remain elevated.
12 Feb Ultra-long sovereign issuance draws buy-the-dip demand but stakes are high.
06 Feb Technical Update - US 10-year Treasury yields resuming uptrend? US Treasury and Euro Bund futures testing key supports
05 Feb  The upcoming 30-year US Treasury auction might rattle markets
30 Jan BOE preview: BoE hold unlikely to last as inflation plummets
29 Jan FOMC preview: the Fed might be on hold, but easing is inevitable.
26 Jan The ECB holds rates: is the bond rally sustainable?
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16 Jan European sovereigns: inflation, stagnation and the bumpy road to rate cuts in 2024.
10 Jan US Treasuries: where do we go from here?
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