(Bloomberg) -- Government bonds surged along with other haven assets amid rapidly escalating tensions in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The yield on US Treasuries fell at least six to seven basis points across the curve as a report showed Ukraine had carried out its first strike within Russian territory with Western supplied missiles — just days after the US gave it permission for limited use of the weapons.
That coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to sign an updated nuclear arms doctrine — pledged in September — that allows the country to expand its use of atomic weapons.
The yen, a traditional haven currency, climbed 0.8% against the dollar, while the Swiss franc rose to strongest level against the euro since August. The German 10-year yield slumped as much as 10 basis points to 2.27%, the lowest since late October.
“It’s purely geopolitical,” said Neil Jones, a managing director at TJM Europe. “The market is taking a lead from the Putin-related headlines, and that’s kicked of a barrage of sell signals from model funds.”
The sudden repricing show how vulnerable markets remain to any escalation in the conflict. And it cuts short a long losing streak for Treasuries, which have broadly been selling off since mid September on expectation that Donald Trump’s policies will boost growth and rekindle inflation.
Just days ago, the US 10-year yield touched 4.50% for the first time since May. It was trading at about 4.35% on Tuesday morning.
Putin Approves Expanded Nuclear Weapons Use in Warning to West
Ukraine deployed ATACMS missiles to strike a military facility in the western Bryansk region, RBC Ukraine reported on Tuesday, citing an official in the nation’s military.
“A lot of negative headlines are going to be made,” said Jordan Rochester, head of macro strategy at Mizuho. “I doubt nuclear gets used but it’s now a higher risk than it was at any point in the war.”
--With assistance from Naomi Tajitsu.
(Updates moves, adds details on Ukraine missile report in penultimate paragraph.)
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