Inverse Treasury ETFs have seen volume pick up this week as traders look for vehicles to hedge rising interest rates or simply speculate on lower bond prices.
The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSEArca: TLT) lost 2.5% on Tuesday to close below $114 a share for the first time since the spring of 2012, said Paul Weisbruch at Street One Financial.
“Volumes were heavy throughout the fixed-income space,” he said in a note Wednesday. [Treasury Bond ETFs Fall]
Junk debt ETFs such as iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond (NYSEArca: HYG) and SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond (NYSEArca: JNK) also saw elevated trading volume. [Investors Ditching Two Big Junk Bond ETFs]
“We saw various put strategies enacted in TLT options, which traded rather briskly and will likely continue to do so this morning,” Weisbruch wrote. [Treasury ETFs Under Pressure as Yields Rise]