Fears of instability in the U.S. banking system and poor liquidity were likely culprits of recent, extreme volatility in the world’s “safest bond market,” according to LPL Research.
The historically docile $24 trillion Treasury bond market erupted in volatility in March after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, evidenced by weekly swings in its policy-sensitive 2-year Treasury yield TMUBMUSD02Y . The 2-year Treasury rate TMUBMUSD02Y swung to a one-year high of 5.064% on March 8, days before the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The yield ended the month at 4.06%, its largest monthly decline since January 2008, according to Dow Jones Market Data.