U.S. Treasury yields were higher on Wednesday as investors awaited some housing data, and weighed the impact of a series of disappointing reports recently.
At 3:50 a.m. ET, the 10-year Treasury yield was up less than a basis point to 4.3040%, while the 2-year Treasury yield was higher by just over one basis point to 4.1085%.
One basis point equals 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Treasurys
Investors are awaiting some data on homes on Wednesday, including new home sales for January due at 10 a.m. This will offer insight into the number of single-family homes sold in the past month.
They will also look to the weekly MBA 30-year mortgage rate report in the morning, which will show the average 30-year fixed mortgage lending rate for the week.
The big event of the week will be the release of the personal consumption expenditures index for January — the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge — scheduled to be published on Friday morning. The PCE will offer a clue into the central bank’s future monetary policy decisions and rate-cutting path.
After a strong CPI report in January, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank doesn’t “need to be in a hurry” to lower interest rates further, noting that the U.S. economy is “strong overall.”
However, after a series of disappointing reports recently, including a weaker-than-expected consumer confidence reading from the Conference Board on Tuesday, a decline in existing home sales in January, and the S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index falling short of economists’ expectations, investors are worried that the economy may be slowing.
The central bank’s next meeting on interest rate decisions will take place on March 18-19.