Treasury prices fall slightly to close out bumper month for yields

U.S. Treasury prices fell slightly on Tuesday to close out a bumper month for government bond yields.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was up around 1.2 basis points to 3.9337% while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond gained 1.6 basis points to 3.9346%. Yields move inversely to prices.

Tuesday marks the final day of trading in February, with all major Wall Street stock indexes on pace for a second negative month in three.

Investors continue to monitor economic data and corporate earnings from major retailers for clues on the outlook for inflation, economic activity and ultimately, the future path of the Federal Reserve‘s interest rate hikes.

Meanwhile the 10-year Treasury yield has advanced more than 50 basis points for the month, and the 2-year yield has gained more than 70 basis points.

“Notably, current yields are meaningfully higher than where they stood in mid-January. As a result, Treasuries and other conservative assets currently offer investors competitive returns for less risk compared to stocks,” said Ameriprise chief market strategist Anthony Saglimbene.

“On the margin, stocks are seeing increased competition from bonds and money market funds this month. We believe this dynamic is contributing to the outflows seen across equity funds in February.”

Durable goods orders fell in January, new figures revealed Monday, as consumers pulled back spending on big-ticket items. Consumer confidence readings and the ISM manufacturing survey are on the slate later in the week.

There are no Treasury auctions scheduled for Tuesday.