Treasury yields are little changed ahead of Fed Powell’s Jackson Hole speech
U.S. government debt prices were hovering around the flatline Thursday, as traders await a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell slightly to 0.6851%, whereas the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond slipped to 1.4051%. Yields move inversely to prices.
Jerome Powell is due to address the virtual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium at 9:10 a.m. ET. Traders will be looking for clues on upcoming monetary policy decisions.
The Fed is expected to change the way it addresses inflation, after it has taken numerous extraordinary measures to fight the impact of the coronavirus on the economy. Powell is expected to discuss a policy of allowing inflation to range on both sides of a target, letting it rise more than the Fed might normally do to help keep the economy from being trapped in low growth.
On the data front, there will be initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET; a second reading of U.S. gross domestic product in the second quarter is due at the same time; and there will be pending home sales numbers out at 10 a.m. ET.
The Treasury is due to auction $30 billion in 4-week bills, $35 billion in 8-week bills and $47 billion in 7-year notes.
