U.S. insurers slide as Treasury yields decline

Heritage Insurance Holdings

20/05/2022 17:08

** Shares of major insurers track a fall in U.S. Treasury
yields amid broader market weakness  US/ 
    ** S&P 500 Insurers Index  .SPXIN  drops ~1.7%
    ** Travelers Companies Inc  TRV.N , MetLife Inc  MET.N ,
American International Group Inc  AIG.N  and Prudential
Financial Inc  PRU.N  down between ~0.6% and ~2.8%
    ** Smaller peers Heritage Insurance Holdings  HRTG.N ,
Allstate Corp  ALL.N  and Assurant Inc  AIZ.N  shed between
~1.9% and ~3.5% 
    ** U.S. Treasury yields fell for a third straight session as
investors remained concerned about growing signs of an economic
slowdown even as the Fed vowed to stay aggressive with monetary
tightening to stamp out persistently high inflation  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2XC15R
    ** Insurers, who invest a large chunk of their income, take
a hit from a drop in yields as lower rates typically reduce
their profitability
    ** Yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes  US10YT=RR  was
last down 4.2 basis points at 2.814%
    ** Two-year  US2YT=RR  U.S. Treasury yield, which typically
moves in step with interest rate expectations, fell 2 basis
points to 2.591%
    ** Meanwhile, Big Wall Street banks also trading down on
Friday as Treasury yield curve flattens  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2XC2ON


 (Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru)
 ((Manya.Saini@thomsonreuters.com;))