U.S. Treasury yields trickled lower on Wednesday as investors awaited further economic data and weighed the possibility of a U.S. federal government shutdown next week.
At 4:47 a.m. ET, the 10-year Treasury yield was down over one basis point at 4.102%. The 2-year Treasury yield was less than a basis point lower at 3.56%. The 30-year Treasury bond yield fell more than 2 basis points to 4.715%.
One basis point equals 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Investors are awaiting more economic data this week including August’s new home sales data on Wednesday morning, existing home sales in August and second-quarter GDP growth rate on Thursday.
The most hotly anticipated data this week will be the personal consumption expenditures index — an inflation measure prefered by the Federal Reserve — which is due out on Friday morning and will offer insights into price pressures and the state of the U.S. economy.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in a speech to business leaders on Tuesday that the central bank lowered interest rates last week due to weakness in the labor market was outweighing concerns about stubborn inflation.
“Near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside — a challenging situation,” he said. “Two-sided risks mean that there is no risk-free path.”
There are also concerns about a potential federal government shut down next week after U.S. President Donald Trump cancelled planned meetings with two top Democrats in Congress to address issues that would have prevented a shutdown.
The two lawmakers were trying to ensure that any stopgap deal — ensuring temporary funding — to avoid the Sept. 30 shutdown would feature protections for healthcare programs, including extending the Affordable Care Act enhanced tax credits.