The magnitude of a financial instrument's reaction to changes in underlying factors. Financial instruments, such as stocks and bonds, are constantly impacted by many factors. Sensitivity accounts for all factors that impact a given instrument in a negative or positive way in an attempt to learn how much a certain factor will impact the value of a particular instrument. 



|||Interest rates are one of the most important underlying factors in the movement of bond prices and are closely watched by bond investors. These investors get a better idea of how their bonds will be affected by interest rate movements by incorporating sensitivity into their analyses.