Treasury yields pass 2% for first time since April

US treasury 10 year yields have climbed past 2% for the first time in nine months, as better than expected data in the US helped bolster risk asset sentiment.

Benchmark 10-year debt yielded 2% just after 2pm this afternoon, the highest since 25th April, after US durable goods orders were revealed to have risen 4.6% in December, well above economists' estimates. Ten-year treasury yields touched a record low at the height of the ‘safe haven' trade last summer, falling to 1.38% in July 2012. An improving US economy and the European Central Bank's pledge to do "whatever it takes" to preserve the euro meant yields had risen to 1.76% by the end of the year, and that trend has continued into 2013. Ten-year yields rose 103 basis points last week...