U.S. Treasury debt prices slid on Friday, pressured by sharp losses in UK bonds after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said interest rates could rise sooner than expected, as well as expectations of an imminent rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
Yields across the board rose after two straight days of declines, with market participants selling the front to the intermediate end of the curve more than long-term government securities.
The underperformance of shorter-term maturities rather than longer-dated issues stemmed from their higher sensitivity to traders' expectations that Fed policy-makers might raise rates sooner than they had thought.
"There are some unwinds of curve trades 10s and 30s, 5s and 30s. People are taking profits after the relative sharp flattening move," said Ian Lyngen, senior government bond trader at CRT Capital in Stamford, Connecticut.
A flattening curve reflects an expectation that the Fed will hike rates soon.
But losses in Treasuries prices were limited by escalating tensions in Iraq. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday he expects President Barack Obama to decide quickly on what steps the U.S. government will take to combat the relentless advance of the Islamist insurgency in Iraq.
Carney kicked off selling in the U.S. bond market overnight when he signaled an earlier rate increase for the British economy than markets had initially priced in.
British government bond prices dropped as a result. The two-year gilt yield soared to 0.903 percent, its highest in almost three years.
In mid-morning trading, benchmark U.S. 10-year notes were down 5/32 in price to yield 2.606 percent, from 2.605 percent late on Thursday.
U.S. 30-year bonds were down 2/32 to yield 3.413 percent , from 3.418 percent late Thursday.
The five- and seven-year tenors sold off as well. U.S. five-year notes fell 6/32 in price to yield 1.704 percent from 1.689 percent the previous session, while seven year notes declined 7/32 in prices to yield 2.209 percent from 2.202 percent late on Thursday.
U.S. Treasury debt yields pulled back from their highs after two weaker-than-expected economic U.S. numbers.
U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in May as costs declined broadly, indicating inflation pressures remained benign. The U.S. producer price index for final demand slipped 0.2 percent, down from April's 0.6 percent increase,
U.S. consumer sentiment also weakened in June. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary June reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment was 81.2, down from 81.9 a month earlier. It was below the median forecast of 83.0 of economists polled by Reuters. (Editing by Bernadette Baum)