Despite a rebound on Friday after jobs data topped expectations, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped 10 basis points over the week to 3.70%. Concurrently, the yield on the 2-year Treasury note slid from 4.56% to 4.51%.
Investors found solace in the recent uptick in the unemployment rate, which rose from 3.4% to 3.7% compared to the previous month. This development has ignited expectations among market participants that the Federal Reserve will deviate from its longstanding pattern of aggressive policy tightening by refraining from implementing another interest rate hike in June. Besides, Federal Reserve officials have conveyed a growing inclination towards maintaining the current interest rates without any adjustments during their upcoming June meeting. Fed Funds Jul '23 futures price closed at 94.825.
Moreover, the Federal Reserve reduced the amount of assets it holds by $50 billion last week, bringing the size of its balance sheet to $8.386 billion as of 31 May. As a result, it pulled $177 billion out of the financial system in May.
In Europe, the yield on the German 10-year Bund dropped from 2.54% to 2.31%. The yield on the French 10-year OAT lost 27 basis points from 3.12% to 2.85% as S&P left the country's AA rating untouched but said that the outlook remained negative.
The bullish backdrop pushed investment grade corporate bond prices higher. In Europe, the IBOXX € Liquid Corporates index gained 1.17%. In the U.S., the IBOXX $ Domestic Corporates Index was up 0.93%.
High-yield bonds edged up 0.44% in Europe (IBOXX € Liquid High Yield Index) and jumped 1.53% in the U.S. (Markit iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield Capped Index).