Treasuries rose, heading for a weekly gain, after General Electric Co. reported its first quarterly drop in profit since 2003 and U.S. consumer confidence slumped to the lowest in 26 years. The Treasury market has priced in a recession and very weak economic data, if things get worse, we're going to see another leg down in interest rates.
U.S. stocks fell after GE, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, said first-quarter earnings slumped 12 percent because of an inability to sell some assets and higher-than-forecast losses at its finance businesses. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1 percent, the most in two weeks.
Traders increased bets the Fed will add to its six rate cuts since September to bolster economic growth, futures on the Chicago Board of Trade show. Traders see a 52 percent chance the Fed will lower its rate for overnight lending between banks by a half-point to 1.75 percent on April 30. The likelihood of a cut that big hasn't been above 50 percent since March 31. Futures also indicate a 21 percent chance the Fed will lower the rate to 1.5 percent by June.
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