The 10-year Treasury yield dropped further Friday morning, briefly dipping below 1.3%, after U.S. consumer sentiment data plummeted to its lowest level since December 2011, according to data out Friday from the University of Michigan.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell almost 7 basis points to 1.3% at 12:00 p.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond gave up 7.5 basis points, falling to 1.952%. Yields move inversely to prices and one basis point is 0.01%.
U.S. consumer confidence fell in August to its lowest level since 2011, as fears about the delta variant and the reopening of the economy continue to spread. The consumer sentiment index fell 13% from the July reading to 70.2, the University of Michigan reported Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected a reading of 81.3 for August.
Yields were down to start the day following mixed data from the Labor Department showing 375,000 jobless claims were filed last week, in line with economists’ forecasts. Meanwhile, July’s producer price index, excluding volatile food, trade services and energy components, climbed 0.9% last month versus a forecasted 0.5% increase.
This set of data, which also came out on Thursday, followed the release of the July consumer price index on Wednesday which showed core inflation had risen less expected last month.
There are no auctions scheduled to be held on Friday.
— CNBC’s Yun Li contributed to this market report.
