U.S. Treasury yields dipped Monday after the long holiday weekend as investors assessed the omicron threat.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note eased 1.4 basis points to 1.479% by around 4:05 p.m. ET, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond ticked down 2.7 basis points to 1.88%. Yields move inversely to prices and 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%.
Bond markets were closed on Friday, Dec. 24 for the Christmas holiday.
Investors have been taking encouragement from some positive news on the omicron Covid variant. A study from South Africa, published last week, indicated that people infected with the omicron coronavirus variant were 80% less likely to be admitted to hospital than if they contracted other strains. Elsewhere, studies from Scotland and England appear to back up the South Africa findings.
U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that cases of Covid-19 are likely going to keep surging as the omicron variant rapidly spreads across the globe.
“Every day it goes up and up. The last weekly average was about 150,000 and it likely will go much higher,” Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week.”
The U.S. has reported more than 52 million total cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. Driving the surge is the omicron variant, which took over as the dominant strain earlier this month.
A slew of economic data on Thursday last week showed a stable economy with improving labor and spending trends, but inflation at high levels. The Federal Reserve’s closely watched core personal consumption expenditures index rose 0.6% in November from the month prior. Core PCE rose 4.7% year-over-year in November, higher than the 4.5% rate expected.