USD Rates: Does steepening need to take a pause?
Cautious after rapid steepening.
Group Research - Econs, Eugene Leow17 Jul 2024
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The US Treasuries curve (2Y/10Y and 5Y/30Y) have steepened substantially over the past few weeks. Much of this appears correlated with increased odds that Trump will return as President in November and an increasingly likelihood that the Fed would begin easing by September. The logic for steepening makes sense from a fundamental perspective. A cyclical cooling of the US economy should warrant calibrated easing and this should drive down front-to-belly tenor yields. Couple that with increased fiscal worries under a Trump Presidency and structurally sticky inflation, longer-end rates should be relatively well supported. That has been our core view, but we wonder if the steepening may have gone too much, too fast in the short term. Notably, the 2Y/10Y segment was close to -50bps towards the end of June but have steepened close to -20bps early this week. To put things into context, the curve has not steepened beyond -20bps in this cycle and at this point, we reckon this resistance level may not be so easy to break. In the immediate term, we think tactical flatteners may make the most sense as Trump trades take a pause. Beyond that, we think that the economic cycle still points to steepening but levels do not look attractive just yet.


Eugene Leow

Senior Rates Strategist - G3 & Asia
[email protected]

 


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