Treasury Yields Have Never Been This Negative for Euro Investors

  • Strains build in cross-currency basis swap market at year-end
  • This year, potential U.S. company repatriation is also at work

Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

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There’s never been a worse time to be buying Treasuries if you’re a euro-based investor.

For purchasers in Germany, France and other euro-zone countries who use swaps to protect against currency swings, the yield on 10-year Treasuries fell Friday to around minus 0.64 percent. That’s a record low in data going back to the common currency’s debut in 1999. And it’s a far cry from the 2.35 percent available to those purchasing the note unhedged.