Exchange traded funds that invest in U.S. Treasury bonds rose Tuesday morning on renewed European debt jitters following last week’s sell-off.
The iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund (NYSEArca: TLT) was up 0.4% in recent action. The ETF entered Tuesday’s trading on a six-day losing streak. Treasury yields jumped last week as stocks rallied, pushing bond prices lower, as the Federal Reserve wrapped up its second round of quantitative easing. [Treasury, Stock ETFs Diverge as ‘QE2’ Winds Down]
“Worries about Greece are leading to some bids into bonds,” Larry Milstein, head of government and agency trading at R.W. Pressprich & Co., told Reuters.
“Long-term U.S. treasury bonds took a heavy hit last week as Greece’s debt concerns eased, the markets marched higher, and investors reacted to the end of QE2,” wrote Don Dion at TheStreet.com on Tuesday. “With the Federal Reserve’s $600 billion buying program wrapped, it will be interesting to see what is in store for this corner of the bond market in the days and weeks ahead.”
Yields on 5-year notes have led the charge in the Treasury market. [Treasury ETF Damage]
ETFs that bet against Treasury bonds have gotten a boost lately from higher yields. [ETF Spotlight]
The iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund has recently met resistance at its 50% retracement level and plunged 3.8% in the last six sessions, according to a technical analysis of the ETF prepared by Street One Financial.
“Even though it was in a general uptrend since February 2011, in the longer term it has been declining since September of 2010,” said David Chojnacki, market technician at Street One Financial. “If we look at the three year picture, we can see that it began its downward trend in December of 2008.”
iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund
Chart source: StockCharts.com.
