NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bond investors reduced their net bearish positions on U.S. longer-dated Treasuries on renewed worries about a global economic slowdown and bets the Federal Reserve might end its interest rate-hike campaign, a J.P. Morgan survey showed on Tuesday.
The margin of investors who said on Monday they were "short," or holding fewer Treasuries than their portfolio benchmarks, over those who were "long," or holding more Treasuries than their benchmarks, declined to 8 percent from 12 percent the week before, J.P. Morgan said.Last week's net shorts were the most since Sept. 17.
On Tuesday, benchmark 10-year Treasury yields (US10YT=RR) were 2.688 percent, down from 2.715 percent a week earlier.
They were above the 2.543 percent reached on Jan. 4, which was the lowest since Jan. 17, 2018. On Oct. 9, they hit a 7-1/2-year peak of 3.261 percent, according to Refinitiv data.
The share of investors who said they were short Treasuries held at 25 percent for a second week.
Seventeen percent of investors surveyed said they were long on U.S. government bonds, down from 13 percent last week.
The share of investors who said they were neutral, or holding Treasuries equal to their portfolio benchmarks, decreased to 58 percent from last week's 62 percent, which was their biggest share since Sept. 11, 2017, J.P. Morgan said.
(Graphic: Investors positions in longer-dated US Treasuries - https://tmsnrt.rs/2OikPnI)