U.S. sees good demand at TIPS auction; bonds lower

NEW YORK (MarketWatch)
The Treasury Department sold $12 billion in 5-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities on Thursday at a yield of negative 0.877%.
Bidders offered to buy 3.01 times the amount of TIPS sold, the highest so-called bid-to-cover ratio since April 2010 and above the average of 2.6 times at the last four comparable auctions.
Indirect bidders, a group that includes global central banks, bought 48.7%, the highest since October 2006 and versus an average of 37.1% of recent auctions.
Direct bidders, a class that includes domestic money managers, purchased another 9.4% compared to 4.41% on average. After the auction, the broader bond market remained under slight pressure.
Yields on 10-year notes , which move inversely to prices, rose 1 basis point to 1.92%, after earlier touching 1.86%, their lowest level since early October.