10-year yield climbs as investors await Fed speaker comments, economic data

U.S. Treasury yields climbed on Monday as investors braced themselves for comments from Federal Reserve officials and economic reports expected throughout the week.

At 5:42 am ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was up by more than 4 basis points at 4.29%, trading near levels last seen in 2022. The 2-year Treasury yield was trading over 2 basis points higher at 4.96%.

Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point equals 0.01%.

Investors await a series of comments from Fed policymakers, including Chairman Jerome Powell, ahead of and during the central bank’s annual Jackson Hole symposium, which begins Thursday. Many are hoping for fresh clues about the outlook for interest rates.

That comes after minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting, released last week, suggested further rate hikes could be announced depending on the state of the economy and whether inflationary pressures continue.

Since the Fed’s last meeting in July, officials have expressed mixed views about whether further interest rate hikes are needed.

Many investors had hoped and expected that the Fed’s latest interest rate hike at its July meeting marked the end of its rate-hiking campaign. The central bank has hiked interest rates 11 times since early 2022 in an effort to cool the economy and ease inflation.

On the data front, investors will closely follow the latest existing and new home sales reports and durable goods orders figures which are slated for this week.

No key data is due Monday.

Elsewhere, China’s central bank cut its one-year loan prime rate by less than expected on Monday while leaving its five-year rate unchanged. That comes after the People’s Bank of China announced surprise interest rate cuts last week as weak economic data raised concerns about the state of the economy.