BOND REPORT: Treasury Yields Tick Higher On Building Optimism For Tax Bill

Treasury prices fell, pushing yields higher, on Monday on mounting expectations that Congress will pass tax-cut legislation this week.

How are Treasurys doing?

The 10-year Treasury note yield rose to 2.371%, up from 2.353% on late Friday. The 2-year note yield edged higher to 1.848%, from 1.840%. The 30-year bond yield rose to 2.702%, versus 2.685%.

Bond prices move in the opposite direction of yields.

What's moving markets?

The House and Senate are expected to vote on the tax bill this week after spending the past month working out differences between competing versions of the legislation and persuading holdout senators to support the final bill. Analysts have highlighted the bill's potential impact on yields. A deficit-widening tax cut would push the federal government to increase debt issuance, boosting the supply of Treasurys and potentially weighing on prices.

But investors have largely held on to their Treasury holdings, unlike last December when fears that Trump's agenda would stir up inflation put pressure on the bond market.

What did market participants say?

"The bond market fell for the president's policy promises this time last year and is resolutely unimpressed this time round. 'Bah, Humbug' sums it up..." said Kit Juckes, global strategist at Société Générale.

What else is on investors' radar?

The National Association of Home Builders is releasing their housing market index for December at 10 a.m. Eastern.

What other assets are on the move?

The German 10-year government bond yield was down 1.1 basis point to 0.294%. While, the U.K. 10-year bond yield fell 1.5 basis point to 1.139%.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 18, 2017 08:55 ET (13:55 GMT)