Meanwhile, longer-dated Treasuries have been strengthening, with the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSEArca: TLT) up 0.1% over the past week and Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury ETF (NYSEArca: EDV) 0.3% higher. Year-to-date, TLT increased 12.5% and EDV gained 19.3%.
Treasury bonds have also attracted strong international interest. In May, foreigners acquired over $19 billion in U.S. long-term securities, with Japan purchasing $10.4 billion and China buying $7.7 billion, Reuters reports.
“Foreign investors looking around the globe at where they can put money to work look at the U.S. as a good credit and the yields are actually better than elsewhere,” Thomas Simons, a government-debt economist in New York at Jefferies LLC, said in a Bloomberg article. “It makes sense to put money to work here. I don’t think that’s going to change given the global outlook.”
For more information on Treasuries, visit our Treasury bonds category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.