U.S. Treasury yields were lower on Tuesday as investors awaited the latest economic data reports and considered what could be next for the economy.
At 4:26 a.m. ET, the 10-year Treasury yield was down by over four basis points to 3.7560%. The 2-year Treasury was last trading more than four basis points lower at 4.6894%.
Yields and prices have an inverted relationship and one basis point equals 0.01%.
Investors looked ahead to the latest economic data slated for the week that could provide clues about the state of the U.S. economy ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting.
That includes June’s retail sales figures, which are slated for Wednesday and will give insights into consumers’ financial health. It could also be an inflation indicator. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are expecting retail sales to have risen by 0.5%, more than May’s 0.3%.
A series of housing sector data, such as Thursday’s building permit and housing starts reports, are due later this week.
The data comes just before the Fed’s next meeting, scheduled for July 25-26, where policymakers will make their latest interest rate decision. After keeping rates steady at their last meeting in June, Fed officials have widely indicated that further rate hikes are likely needed in order to bring inflation back to the 2% target range.
June’s consumer price index reading of 3% on an annual basis marked the lowest level since March 2021. That suggests that inflationary pressures are easing and the 10 rate hikes implemented by the Fed since early 2022 are taking hold. Nevertheless, investors are broadly expecting a rate increase from the central bank next week.
