Key Points

  •  The Dow and S&P 500 on Monday suffered their worst plunge since the “Black Monday” crash of 1987, Dow futures hit their “limit up” level of 800 point gains on Tuesday as volatility continues to dominate markets.
  • U.S. retail sales figures for February are due at 8:30 a.m. ET, before industrial and manufacturing production readings at 9:15 a.m.

U.S. government debt prices were lower Tuesday morning as investors hope for a bottoming out following Monday’s historic losses on Wall Street.

At around 3:00 a.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was higher at around 0.7843%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was up slightly at 1.3482%.

The Dow and S&P 500 on Monday suffered their worst plunge since the “Black Monday” crash of 1987, despite the Federal Reserve’s announcement of an emergency $700 billion quantitative easing program and a further 100 basis point cut to interest rates.

However, Dow futures hit their “limit up” level of 800 point gains on Tuesday as markets look set for another volatile week of trading amid the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Confirmed cases have now surpassed 182,000, with more than 7,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, as governments around the world have begun to close their borders and enforce lockdowns.

In the U.S., 4,661 cases have now been confirmed with 85 deaths, with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio calling for a “wartime mentality” to contain the outbreak.

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On the data front, U.S. retail sales figures for February are due at 8:30 a.m. ET, before Redbook data for last week at 8:55 a.m. and February’s industrial and manufacturing production readings at 9:15 a.m.

There are no Treasury auctions scheduled for Tuesday.

(Report by Elliot Smith)

This article was first published on CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/17/treasury-yields-rise-as-stocks-search-for-modest-recovery-after-mondays-crash.html and is republished with its permission.