The Lombard Review

Election night for the bond market

A protective canopy is placed inside the Capitol Rotunda during the restoration of the Capitol Dome.
A protective canopy is placed inside the Capitol Rotunda during the restoration of the Capitol Dome. Photo: USCapitol/Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
By The Lombard Review
1 min read

As election night returns confirmed Donald Trump’s decisive victory alongside a Republican sweep of Congress, the US sovereign bond market delivered an immediate, violent verdict. The benchmark ten-year Treasury yield surged by sixteen basis points to 4.44 per cent in overnight trading, marking a stunning 80-basis-point leap since the Fed cut rates in September.

The Bank of England Museum.
The Bank of England Museum. Photo: Matt Brown/Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0

Pricing the Red Wave

A unified Republican government removes legislative gridlock, clearing the path for the full extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, aggressive universal import tariffs, and sweeping deregulation. Bond desks moved instantly to price in higher baseline growth, stickier inflation, and an unconstrained expansion of federal borrowing. The sovereign term premium is in full revolt against prospective fiscal expansion.

Tokyo Station's Marunouchi Square, illuminated to mark its reopening on December 7, 2017.
Tokyo Station's Marunouchi Square, illuminated to mark its reopening on December 7, 2017. Photo: Indiana jo/Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The election night sovereign bond sell-off demonstrated that fixed-income markets view a unified Republican sweep as a powerful recipe for higher inflation and endless Treasury supply.

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