U.S. Treasury yields inched higher Tuesday with investors focused on the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting and geopolitical tensions.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was 1.3 basis points higher at 1.748% by 10:40 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond rose less than a basis point to 2.09%. Yields move inversely to prices and 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%.
The Fed’s two-day meeting kicks off Tuesday, with a policy decision scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The central bank is not expected to raise interest rates following the January meeting, with many investors expecting the first hike to be announced in March.
However, the Fed is expected to signal a continued tightening of monetary policy. Wall Street investors see the central bank nodding toward the end of its asset purchases in the next month or two and an outright rundown of the balance sheet to start around midyear.
Stephane Monier, chief investment officer at Lombard Odier Private Bank, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Tuesday that his firm expects the “policy action to be implemented in March,” with an end to asset purchase tapering and a first interest rate hike.
