U.S. Treasury yields eased back slightly on Thursday, following a sell-off amid inflation fears.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gave up less than a basis point, falling to 1.531% at 3:45 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond fell by less than a basis point to 2.078%. Yields move inversely to prices and 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%.
The 10-year Treasury yield hit 1.56% on Wednesday, with investors concerned about a longer lasting rise in prices and the prospect of tighter monetary policy.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday in a panel discussion hosted by the European Central Bank that he foresaw rising prices running into 2022.
“It’s also frustrating to see the bottlenecks and supply chain problems not getting better — in fact at the margins apparently getting a little bit worse,” he said. “We see that continuing into next year probably, and holding up inflation longer than we had thought.”
Powell is due to speak in front of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services at 10 a.m. ET.
Investors are also monitoring the latest headlines out of Washington. On Wednesday, the House passed a bill that would suspend the U.S. debt ceiling after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday that Congress had until Oct. 18 to raise or suspend the debt ceiling.
Meanwhile, the number of jobless claims filed during the week ended Sept. 25 is due to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists have forecast that 335,000 unemployment insurance claims were filed last week.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis will also release its final estimate for U.S. gross domestic product in the second quarter at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Auctions are scheduled to be held on Thursday for $10 billion of four-week bills and $25 billion of eight-week bills.
— CNBC’s Jeff Cox and Pippa Stevens contributed to this market report.
