Traders turn to 2025 amid agonising easing

Easing cycles: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as rising yields underscore how unique this economic and monetary cycle has been. Despite elevated borrowing costs, a resilient economy has kept inflation stubbornly above the Fed’s target. — AP

NEW YORK: Bond traders have rarely suffered so much from a Federal Reserve (Fed) easing cycle. Now they fear 2025 threatens more of the same.The US 10-year yields have climbed more than three-quarters of a percentage point since central bankers started slashing benchmark interest rates in September.

It’s a counterintuitive, loss-inducing response, marking the biggest jump in the first three months of a rate-cutting cycle since 1989.