Cratering US yields pose disaster for Asia’s giant savers

The cratering in benchmark Treasury yields since late January, sparked by fears over the Covid-19 coronavirus and now the bear market in oil, took 10-year rates as low as 0.31% Monday.

SYDNEY: The last great refuge for giant Asian pools of savings -- U.S. bond yields -- is dramatically collapsing, posing a major challenge to investment strategies among pension funds and insurance firms in Japan and Taiwan.

The cratering in benchmark Treasury yields since late January, sparked by fears over the Covid-19 coronavirus and now the bear market in oil, took 10-year rates as low as 0.31% Monday. That was less than a week after they fell below 1% for the first time. Yields on investment grade U.S. corporate debt have also hit record lows.