The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was little changed on Wednesday following the release of private payroll data and ahead of an infrastructure plan roll out from President Joe Biden.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note inched higher to 1.728% at 2:15 p.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond fell to 2.403%. Yields move inversely to prices.
The 10-year yield hit a 14-month high on Tuesday when it topped 1.77%.
Bryn Jones, head of fixed income at Rathbones, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday that the bond market was “really putting pressure on central banks to question the inflation that might be coming through.”
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently said he expected inflation to rise this year but also suggested that the central bank would let the economy run hotter if it helped achieve full employment.
Jones questioned whether the yield curve could steepen much more “without central banks actually doing anything.” The yield curve plots the different interest rates of short term and longer term Treasurys and a steeper curve is typically an indication of stronger economic growth and rising inflation.
However, Jones added that he didn’t see the 10-year yield rising much higher than 2% in the short term.
ADP’s private payroll data for March showed a gain of 517,000 jobs. That was above the 525,000 private jobs expected by economists polled by Dow Jones but well above the 176,000 added in February.
Biden is expected to reveal more details about his infrastructure package on Wednesday, which could cost more than $2 trillion.
Pending home sales declined in February, indicating that housing supply remains tight across the country.
An auction was held Wednesday for $35 billion of 119-day bills.
— CNBC’s Maggie Fitzgerald contributed to this report.
