Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stirred the bond market after announcing the Fed’s plans to continue Treasury and MBS purchases at the current pace, Bloomberg reported.
Yields, which rose 0.02 percentage point as of 11 a.m. in New York, soared as high as 3.81 percent on Sept. 5 from 2.28 percent in May as speculation mounted that the central bank would pare its $85 billion of monthly bond buying including $40 billion of government-backed mortgage securities.
“It is essential for the Fed to convince the market of its commitment to keep rates low” because many holders of mortgage bonds use borrowed money in their investing, BNP Paribas SA analysts Anish Lohokare and Timi Ajibola wrote yesterday in a report. Higher financing rates for buyers require steeper yields to maintain returns.
