(Reuters) – Battered S&P 500 stocks may get fresh interest from investors turning to dividends in a world of shrinking bond yields.
FILE PHOTO: A person wearing a face mask walks along Wall Street after further cases of coronavirus were confirmed in New York City, New York, U.S., March 6, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly – RC2LEF9U3U0Z/File Photo
The dividend yield on the S&P 500 now exceeds the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury by its highest margin in nearly five decades after a flight to safe-haven assets compressed government bond yields to record lows.
Graphic: S&P 500 dividend yield vs 10-year Treasury here
Wall Street’s coronavirus sell-off has left the S&P 500 down 26% from its February record high, lifting its dividend yield to 2.46%, the highest since 2009, according to Refinitiv’s Datastream.
By comparison, investors’ rush to government bonds has pushed the yield on U.S. 10-year Treasuries to record lows, most recently on Thursday at 0.59%. Bond yields fall…
