U.S. Treasury yields were trading lower on Tuesday after July’s retail sales data came in worse than expected.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell about 2 basis points to 1.24% at 8:40 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond gave up 2 basis points, falling to 1.907%. Yields move inversely to prices and one basis point is 0.01%.
The Census Bureau said Tuesday that retail sales fell 1.1% in June, driven largely by a drop in car sales. Economists expected retail sales to fall by 0.3% in July, compared to a revised 0.7% gain in June, according to Dow Jones consensus forecast.
Excluding autos, sales were down 0.4% compared to estimates of a 0.2% slowdown.
The slide in retail sales comes after Friday’s preliminary consumer sentiment report from the University of Michigan showed one of the largest drops on record, leading some strategists and economists to warn of downside risk to the sales data.
Yields moved off of their lows of their morning after the data was released.
The August National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index is set to be released at 10 a.m. ET.
Auctions are due to be held on Tuesday for £20 billion of 42-day bills and $50 billion of 57-day bills.
— CNBC’s Patti Domm contributed to this market report.
