Bonds yields were nearly flat in premarket trading on Wednesday, as investors digest last week’s inflation data and look ahead to Friday’s jobs report.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note ticked slightly lower to 1.603% by 7:23 a.m. ET, largely flat on Tuesday’s close. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also slightly lower at 2.282%. Yields move inversely to prices.
Inflation remains in focus after the release of the core personal consumption expenditures index — a key inflation gauge — last week. The core PCE rose 3.1% in April from a year earlier, hotter than expected. Gold, which often is used as an inflation hedge, is still holding above a key level of $1,900.
Investors will be looking to the Federal Reserve’s publishing of its Beige Book on Wednesday, ahead of its next Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
The Mortgage Bankers Association releases its 30-year mortgage rate. The previous rate was 3.18%.
The Fed Bank of Philadelphia’s Patrick Harker is scheduled to discuss the economic outlook for a virtual event hosted by the Women in Housing and Finance Public Policy, and the Chicago Fed’s Charles Evans will speak at a virtual “Racism and the Economy: Focus on Entrepreneurship” event.
On Tuesday, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard told the Economic Club of New York that the mismatch between supply and demand in some industries was temporary, and that the central bank’s goal was “to ensure that inflation expectations are strongly anchored at 2%,” according to the club’s Twitter account.
Investors are also eyeing Friday’s jobs report. Economists expect the data to show the creation of around 674,000 jobs in May, after April’s read came in below expectations at 266,000.
Negotiations in Washington over an infrastructure spending package remain in focus, as Democrats discuss plans to ‘go it alone’ with a sweeping spending package, after Senate Republicans presented a $928 billion counteroffer to President Biden on Thursday, well below the White House’s latest $1.7 trillion proposal.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Sunday that Senate Democrats and Republicans must establish a clear direction on infrastructure by June 7.
