Treasury Auction results, appear worse than expected...
"Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury notes failed to rise as a measure of demand at the government's $15 billion sale of five- year securities indicated weaker appetite for the debt.
Indirect bidders, the class of investors that includes foreign central banks, won 39.8 percent of the securities, down from 65.8 percent of the previous five-year note sale on Dec. 8. A drop in the dollar against the euro and yen also held back Treasuries.
``Dealers don't like it as they fear that foreign participation in the Treasury market could be slipping,' Rick Klingman, a five-year note trader who heads Treasury trading at ABN Amro Inc. in New York, said of the level of indirect biddders. While it's too early to draw that conclusion, ``the initial reaction is always to sell on a low indirect bidding number,' he said.
The most recently issued five-year note, a 3 1/2 percent note maturing in November 2009, was little changed at 99 3/32 to yield 3.70 percent as of 4:06 p.m. in New York, according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. ABN Amro is among the 22 primary U.S. government securities dealers that are obligated to bid at the Treasury's auctions.
The new notes, which mature in January 2010, drew a yield of 3.731 percent, the highest at a five-year sale since June. There were $2.37 worth of bids for every $1 sold, compared with $2.60 at November's sale. The so-called bid-to-cover ratio averaged $2.60 at the past 10 sales.
Today's auction was the first of eight this month and next that government finance research firm Wrightson ICAP estimates will total $133 billion. The U.S. will sell $10 billion of 10- year inflation-linked securities tomorrow. " |
