After yesterday’s stellar 2Y auction, moments ago the Treasury sold $34 billion in 5 Year paper in what can only be described as a quite ugly auction.
The high yield printed at 1.875%, which maybe because it was the lowest stop since November’s 1.76%, drew far less bidside interest than yesterday’s auction. It also tailed by 0.7bps to the 1.875 When Issued.
The internals were just as ugly, with the Bid To Cover slumping to 2.34 from last month’s 2.37 and the 6 month average of 2.45.
Indirects took down 57.3%, well below the 6 month average of 63.5%, and the lowest since July 2016. With Directs expressing little interest too, it meant Dealers were stuck taking down 37.4% of the final allotment, the highest since last July.
It is unclear what changed so notably in the past 24 hours, but whatever it was it appears to have spooked bidders and certainly foreign buyers.
