Wall Street Dumps Most Treasuries Since 2004 on Growth

Wall Street banks are cutting their holdings of Treasuries at the fastest pace since 2004 as the world’s biggest bond firms bet that the economy will strengthen and demand for higher-yielding assets will increase.

The 18 primary dealers that trade with the Federal Reserve reported that holdings of U.S. government debt tumbled to a net $2.34 billion on Dec. 29 from $81.3 billion on Nov. 24, the most since June 2009, according to the most recent central bank data. While the stake is the lowest since February, corporate bond and mortgage securities have risen from the lows of the year.