By Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch)--The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield
inched lower Friday, still finishing the month of February with a
sizable rise.
The yield on the 10-year note was down about a basis point to
2.002% in recent trade. Economic data came in mixed and didn't
provide much of a spark.
For the month of February, the 10-year Treasury yield gained 32
basis points, achieving its biggest monthly gain since June 2013,
according to Dow Jones data. The February drop in Treasury prices,
which fall as yields rise, came as the S&P 500 (SPX)climbed
5.5% for the month
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-wall-street-waits-for-gdp-sentiment-and-more-fed-speakers-2015-02-27)
and worries about Greece and the eurozone abated.
But the past week did take away from the 10-year yield's
February advance. The 10-year yield was down 13 basis points for
the week. Analysts said Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen's
slightly-more-dovish-than-expected comments before Congress on
Tuesday and Wednesday helped boost Treasury prices. She was
expected to sound hawkish and did take a step closer to raising
rates, but softened the blow with several dovish comments
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yellen-prepares-markets-for-less-patient-fed-2015-02-24).
In U.S. economic news on Friday, a revised reading on
fourth-quarter gross domestic product indicated that the economy
expanded at 2.2%, a slightly slower pace
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-fourth-quarter-gdp-trimmed-to-22-from-26-2015-02-27)
than initially reported. That was below the original estimate of
2.6%, but better than the 2.0% that economists expected.
In addition, a Chicago-area purchasing managers index tumbled to
a five-and-half-year low, but a reading on pending home sales
showed an increase. Ian Lyngen, senior rates strategist at CRT
Capital Group, wrote in a note that his team's expectations for
Friday's round of economic data had been limited, as it expects the
monthly jobs report next week will be "the most compelling piece of
new information."
Read more: Wave of data shows strong consumer but wary
businesses
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wave-of-data-show-strong-consumer-but-wary-businesses-2015-02-27)
The two-year yield was down about 2 basis points on Friday to
0.626%. For the month, it was up 15 basis points.
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