The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to 2.93% early on Wednesday, ahead of the release of key inflation data later in the morning.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note dropped 5 basis points to 2.9382% at 4:30 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond fell 5 basis points to 3.0779%. Yields move inversely to prices and 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%.
Treasurys
April’s consumer price index, a key measure of inflation, is due to come out at 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Economists expect the CPI to rise 0.2% from the month prior and 8.1% year over year, according to the Dow Jones consensus estimate. That compares with March’s 8.5% year-over-year pace.
The inflation reading is important given that this data is largely determining the Federal Reserve’s direction on raising interest rates. Both pricing pressures and more aggressive rate hiking have fueled concerns about a slowdown in economic growth.
Madison Faller, global market strategist at JPMorgan Private Bank, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday that she believes that Fed policy is “having its intended effect in removing some of the pressure and slowing things down.”
Faller said the Fed is trying to quell some of the demand that’s helping drive inflation.
She believes that the slowdown in demand is already being reflected in the housing sector, as new 30-year mortgage rates have “skyrocketed” to 5.5%. Faller said this was the widest relative to existing mortgage rates on record.
“That’s really meaningful considering the housing market is the most cyclical part of the U.S. economy — 65% of Americans own a home and that tells us that the Fed is already doing its job,” she said.
“But what that also tells us is that forward trajectory for interest rates from here might be capped as you have that negative economic feedback loop,” Faller added.
Also in focus for investors are the ongoing war in Ukraine and Covid-19 lockdowns in China.
Auctions are scheduled to be held on Wednesday for $30 billion of 119-day bills and $36 billion of 10-year notes.
— CNBC’s Hannah Miao contributed to this market report.
