Source: US Dept. of Treasury End of Day
• The ongoing yield curve steepening accelerated over the week as the two-year Treasury note dropped by one basis point to 0.10% while the five-year note increased by nine basis points to 0.58%.
• Retail sales for January came in strongly at 5.3% vs consensus expectations of 1.1%, the highest reading in seven months.
• Though one data point does not present a trend, the outsized reading on retail sales is sure to find its way into policy discussions and will likely be used as an argument to downsize the proposed $1.9 trillion-dollar American Rescue Plan.
