U.S. Treasury yields gave up some ground on Wednesday, ahead of the release of minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting and inflation data.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was little changed near 1.665% at 7:50 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond dipped by less than 1 basis points to 2.018%. Yields move inversely to prices and 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%.
Yields have jumped sharply this week, as the 10-year Treasury yield was trading near 1.54% on Friday.
The Fed is due to release the minutes from its November meeting at 2 p.m. ET. In the latest meeting, the central bank confirmed its plans to start tapering its $120 billion monthly bond-buying program, so investors will be poring over the minutes for further details.
Salman Ahmed, global head of macro and strategic asset allocation at Fidelity International, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday that investors would have to watch the Fed’s communications “very carefully.”
Ahmed said that the Fed was experiencing a “communication dilemma.”
Ahmed explained that the Fed had tried to tell investors that the “tapering decision has nothing to do with rate hikes.” However, he said that it was now becoming more difficult to maintain this argument with the continued rise in inflation, which “may not go back to those low levels that we had been used to.”
October’s personal consumption expenditure index, which is the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, is set to come out at 10 a.m. ET.
Weekly jobless claims data is also scheduled to be released on Wednesday, at 8:30 a.m. ET, because the U.S. bond market is closed tomorrow for Thanksgiving.
The second estimate for U.S. third-quarter gross domestic product is expected out at 8:30 a.m. ET.
October’s personal income and spending data, along with new home sales, are due to be released at 10 a.m. ET.
Auctions are slated to be held on Wednesday for $10 billion of four-week bills, $25 billion of eight-week bills, $40 billion of 119-day bills and $60 billion of 14-day bills.
