U.S. Treasury yields slid on Tuesday as investors awaited new data and considered who President-elect Donald Trump might appoint to the all-important Treasury Secretary post.
At 5:11 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was lower by more than five basis points to 4.3570%. The 2-year Treasury was down by more than seven basis points to 4.2126%.
One basis point is equal to 0.01% and yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Treasurys
November’s flash S&P Global Composite PMIs, which track trends across the manufacturing and services sectors, will be published on Friday.
The data should give clues as to the strength of the U.S. economy ahead of Trump’s second term. Yields have soared following the election with traders betting that Trump’s pro-business policies and tax cuts will boost economic growth.
All eyes are now on who Trump picks as his Treasury Secretary, with the fact that there is no clear frontrunner sparking some nervousness in markets.
A number of data points are due to be published this week, including housing construction figures for the month of October due on Tuesday. Existing home sales and weekly initial jobless claims are both due Thursday.
“The relevance of the pick for financial markets will probably be how the US Treasury market reacts. A candidate with proven reliability will be well-received by the bond markets, while those with less experience – or perhaps a candidate that will offer less of a counterweight to some of President-elect Trump’s plans – could see the long end of the US Treasury market sell-off and perhaps even soften the dollar too,” ING economists wrote in a note Tuesday.
Those reported to be in the running include Scott Bessent, founder of Key Square Group, and billionaire businessman Howard Lutnick, the Trump transition chair who has received the blessing of Trump confidante Elon Musk.
— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report.