U.S. Treasury yields rose on Monday as market participants closely monitored soaring cases of the omicron Covid variant.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 7.6 basis points to 1.574%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond rose 6.5 basis points to trade at 1.954%. Yields move inversely to prices and 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%.
It comes at a time when the highly contagious omicron Covid variant is driving a new wave of infections around the world. The U.S. seven-day rolling average of cases surpassed 400,000 on Sunday, reflecting an unprecedented upswing in infections and fueling worries about the strain on national health services.
Treasury yields moved throughout 2021 amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic and inflation as the Federal Reserve eases off its pandemic-era easy monetary policy.
The central bank in January plans to accelerate the reduction of its monthly bond purchases. The Fed then expects to start raising interest rates after tapering concludes.
Many market strategists expect Treasury yields to creep higher in 2022.
On the data front, a final reading of U.S. manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) for December will be released at around 9:45 a.m. on Monday, with construction spending figures for November scheduled to follow slightly later in the session.
The U.S. Treasury will auction $60 billion in 13-week bills and $51 billion in 26-week bills.
— CNBC’s Hannah Miao contributed to this report.