U.S. debt futures end lower , shaken by Chicago NAPM .
CHICAGO 1996-08-30
U.S. debt futures finished a shortened pre-holiday session sharply lower , as the markets were shaken by a stronger than expected rise in the August National Association of Purchasing Management ( NAPM ) index for the Chicago area , traders and analysts said .
The August Chicago NAPM rose 8.8 points to 60.0 , its highest level since 62.6 in February 1995 and the largest monthly rise since December 1993 .
Primary dealers immediately sold Eurodollar and bond futures , after the market on average was expecting the index to rise marginally to 51.9 from July 's 51.2 .
Traders also said Japanese investors were unwinding long Eurodollar futures / short swaps , and that heavy put buying helped pressure Eurodollars to lower levels before the close .
One U.S. firm bought 35,000 September 97 mid-curve put options at a strike price of 93.25 to 93.30 in the last two sessions , while a French firm bought 4,000 September 93.30 to 93.32 put spreads .
" Even before the data came out , we were seeing put buying , " one floor trader said .
Meanwhile , funds were reportedly good sellers of five-year notes .
Rumors circulated that the Federal Reserve was buying five-year notes , and that a renowned hedge fund manager was buying 10-year notes in the cash markets .
However , December T-bonds ended below a major trendline level at 106-26/32 , as the yield in the cash bond market set its highest monthly close since April 1995 at 7.12 percent , one analyst said .
December bonds blew through the July 30 low of 107-06/32 , even though conditions were slightly oversold , traders said .
The December calendar spread continued to widen , also reflecting the market 's fear of rising inflation .
While the market continues to price-in higher U.S. interest rates , there was little conviction to the theory that the Federal Reserve would tighten rates before the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting on September 24 .
Federal Reserve governor Lawrence Lindsey , speaking on U.S. cable television network CNBC , said the U.S. economy appears on balance to be a bit strong , adding the central bank would not curb growth provided inflation remains in check .
Earlier in the day , Fed chairman Alan Greenspan said at the annual Jackson Hole symposium that the goal of price stability is within reach for major nations .
Traders said the Fed 's decision to adopt a tightening bias at the July FOMC meeting has cast more focus on every piece of U.S. economic news .
" The Fed 's stance has really sensitized us to all this data , " one analyst said . "
The revisions to GDP , for example , may not have attracted a lot of attention . "
At the end of pit trade , December bonds were off 27/32 at 106-25/32 , 10-year notes down 21/32 at 105-17/32 , munibonds off 17/32 at 111-20/32 , December Eurodollars were down 11 bps at 93.94 , March Eurodollars were off 13 bps at 93.72 and March T-bills were down 12 bps at 94.33 .