Bonds are rallying. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note touched 2.37% earlier on Friday, the lowest level since June 2013.
The world's safe haven asset classes in general have been doing great this week as geopolitical turmoil has the world on edge.
"Risk aversion rules," Societe Generale's Kit Juckes said. "The Ukraine conflict shows no sign of being resolved (rather, there's far too high a chance of escalation for comfort)," Societe Generale's Kit Juckes said. "Overnight, the U.S. has approved limited airstrikes in Northern Iraq. The conflict on Gaza, too, is in danger of re-escalation. Investors have plenty of reasons to take risk off the table and are doing so across the board."
Other traditional safe havens that have been doing well are the yen, which has been strengthening against the world's major currencies; German bonds, which saw yields on the two-year security go negative; and gold, which rallied to a three-week high on Friday.
The rally in Treasury securities is particularly notable. After what's been a 30-year long bull market, most Wall Street strategists and economists were convinced that rates would be up this year, especially as the Federal Reserve slowly exits that market and prepares to tighten monetary policy.
Bloomberg.com