The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that the sell-off in U.S. debt appears close to being over as the Federal Reserve nears winding up its most aggressive rate hikes in a generation. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that at the same time, monetary policy is poised to cede its central role in moving Treasuries to another force: the scale of the U.S. federal government's deficit. Those are conclusions drawn from a Bloomberg Markets Live Pulse survey conducted Wednesday. They reinforced the optimism that drove the bond market to one of its biggest one-day rallies of the year. The 10-year Treasury yield tumbled about 20 basis points to 4.73 per cent, the biggest drop since March. "The risk-reward in Treasuries is decent going into 2024, especially if economic activity slows down and rate cuts materialize," said Tolou Capital Management founder Spencer Hakimian. Almost half the 160 respondents to the Pulse survey said they do not expect the Fed to raise its benchmark rate further, predicting the next move in the cycle will be an easing of policy as the economy slows. The views underscore the growing optimism that Treasuries are coming to the end of an unprecedented three-year downturn.