After ending last Friday’s trading nearly unchanged, treasuries showed a substantial move to the upside during trading on Monday.<\/p>\n
Bond prices spiked early in the session and remained sharply higher throughout the day. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, tumbled by 11.9 basis points to 1.181 percent.<\/p>\n
With the steep drop on the day, the ten-year yield ended the session at its lowest closing level in over five months.<\/p>\n
The rally by treasuries came amid concerns about a resurgence of the coronavirus<\/span>, as the delta variant contributes to a spike in infections in the U.S.<\/p>\n According to data from the CDC, the 7-day average of Covid-19 cases in the U.S. has jumped to nearly 30,000 after falling as low as 11,455 a month ago.<\/p>\n The renewed Covid concerns also contributed to a sell-off on Wall Street, which inspired traders to look to the relative safety of bonds.<\/p>\n Treasuries saw further upside following the release of a report from the National Association of Home Builders showing an unexpected dip in U.S. homebuilder confidence in the month of July. <\/p>\n The report showed the NAHB\/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index edged down to 80 in July from 81 in June. The modest decrease surprised economists, who had expected the index to inch up to 82.<\/p>\n With the unexpected drop, the housing market index slipped to its lowest level since hitting 78 in August of 2020.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new residential construction in the month of June.<\/p>\n Housing starts are expected to jump by 1.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.597 million, while building permits are expected to climb by 1 percent to an annual rate of 1.700 million. <\/p>\n