NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday awarded primary dealers their smallest ever share of 30-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities at an auction as investors took majority of the supply, Treasury data showed.
Primary dealers, or the top 24 Wall Street firms that do business directly with the Federal Reserve, received 10.63% of the $7 billion in 30-year TIPS offered , resulting in their yield to be sold at 0.501%, which was the lowest yield at an auction of this maturity since October 2012.
Indirect bidders which include fund managers and foreign central banks were allotted 81.62% of the 30-year TIPS supply, marking their second-largest share ever at such an auction.
Direct bidders which include smaller bond dealers and certain large investors acquired 7.75% of the supply, which was their biggest share since June 2017.
The ratio of bids to the amount of 30-year TIPS offered came in at 2.70, the strongest reading on overall demand since June 2017.