Treasury yields slipped Tuesday after bond investors shrugged off an increase in U.S. consumer prices in March that sent yearly inflation measures to the highest level in two and a half years.
What are Treasurys doing?
The 10-year Treasury note yield TMUBMUSD10Y,
What’s driving Treasurys?
The U.S. consumer price index rose 0.6% in March, while the core gauge that strips out for energy and food prices came in at an 0.3% increase. The annual rate of inflation climbed to 2.6% from 1.7% in the prior month, marking the highest level since the fall of 2018.
Long-dated Treasurys have taken a beating so far this year in anticipation of rising inflation, unleashed by the reopening of the U.S. economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
But yields didn’t surge on Tuesday following the publication of the inflation data as analysts had been expecting a surge in price levels already and the rise in annual inflation partly reflected the recovery from the weak readings last March when the pandemic first impacted the economy.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York will release its schedule for bond-buying over the next few weeks late Tuesday. This will draw attention after New York Fed official Lorie Logan suggested recently that the central bank will start making tweaks to the amount of its asset purchases in parts of the yield curve.
Some members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee are set to speak on Tuesday, including Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly.
What did market participants say?
“Markets seemed to be anticipating an upside surprise,” said said Erik Nelson, a macro strategist at Wells Fargo.
“The noise from inflation base effects may also be leading some market participants to simply look through today’s print,” said Nelson.
