Less Bull Investors on Treasuries Since January

According to a new J.P. Morgan poll released on Tuesday, the number of investors who are bullish on United States treasuries is at the lowest since January this year.

Traders were bracing for this week’s $75 billion quarterly refunding, which began on Tuesday with a $37 billion public sale of new three-year treasury notes. Before the start of refunding, the new survey shows that the share of investors who said on Monday they were long on treasuries declined to 18 per cent from 22 per cent last week. This is the lowest since the last week of January. The number of investors who shorted treasuries rose from 16 per cent last week to 18 per cent on Monday. Neutral investors stood at 64 per cent, with a minimal increase from 62 per cent. Market makers and hedge funds, the active clients, were also more defensive within the last week. 3 per cent of those said they are shorting treasuries, 7 per cent were neutral and 1 per cent of respondents are going long on treasuries. Demand at Tuesday’s debt sale was heavy and vigorous, with majority of bids coming from foreign central banks. Currently, the yield on 10-year Treasury notes is 3.69 per cent.