The yield of US Treasury bonds fell sharply, which was due to increased demand for safe haven assets after the news from Ukraine that Russian troops had captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (the largest in Europe).
The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds fell by 5.3 basis points, reaching 1.791%, while the yield on 30-year bonds was 2.187% (-3.9 basis points). Meanwhile, the yield on 2-year Treasury bonds, reflecting expectations of short-term interest rates, fell by 3.2 basis points to 1.504%.
The Atomic Energy Agency of Ukraine said on Friday that the Russian armed forces had taken control of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Against this background, the British Prime Minister announced that he will call an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the attack.
In addition to the events in Ukraine, investors were also preparing for the publication of key data on the US labor market, which will be published at 13:30 GMT. Consensus estimates suggest that nonfarm payrolls increased by 400 thousand in February after an increase by 467 thousand in January, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.9% from 4%. This is the last employment report before the Fed meeting, at which a decision on rate hikes is expected to be made. Earlier this week, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said he would support a 25 basis point hike at the Fed's March 15-16 meeting and said the Fed would be "ready to act more aggressively" if inflation did not decline as quickly as expected.