STOCKS & BONDS
Report of Strong Job Growth in March Spurs a Sharp Rise in Interest Rates
By JONATHAN FUERBRINGER
Published: April 3, 2004
Interest rates rose sharply yesterday after a report showing strong job growth in March suggested that all facets of an economic recovery were finally in place.
Stocks prices rose, with the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index gaining 0.9 percent and the Nasdaq composite index climbing 2.1 percent. The prospect of economic gains bolstered the dollar as well, pushing it up 1.9 percent against the euro and 0.8 percent against the Japanese yen.
After the Labor Department reported that 308,000 new jobs were created in March, more than twice Wall Street's forecast, the yield on the Treasury's 10-year note jumped to 4.15 percent, from 3.88 percent Thursday. It was the biggest one-day surge in yields since March 1996.
Traders at investment banks with big positions in Treasuries could have had as much as $20 million erased yesterday, although some traders said they had not heard of big losers on Wall Street. But the Asian central banks that have been buying Treasuries, including the Japanese and the Chinese, probably had significant paper losses....
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/03/business/03stox.html