U.S. Treasury yields were mixed Wednesday as investors braced themselves for fresh inflation data which could inform the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.
The yield on the 2-year Treasury yield was up by 2.3 basis points to 4.047%. Longer-dated yields dipped, with the 10-year Treasury down by 1 basis point to 3.503% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury trading at 3.814%.
Yields and prices move in opposite directions and one basis point is equivalent to 0.01%.
Investors awaited the release of April’s consumer price index report, due Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are expecting the CPI print to reflect a 0.4% increase from March and a 5% rise on a year-over-year basis.
The CPI reading will be followed by April’s wholesale inflation report on Thursday.
The figures could inform future Federal Reserve monetary policy decisions, especially regarding interest rates. After its rate-setting meeting last week, which saw the announcement of another 25 basis point rate hike, the Fed indicated that it may stop increasing rates soon.
On Tuesday, however, New York Fed President John Williams suggested that rates could go higher still if inflationary pressures do not ease. “We haven’t said we’re done raising rates,” he said in prepared remarks at the Economic Club of New York.
That comes as concerns about elevated rates leading to an economic downturn spread among investors.
This article was originally published by CNBC.
