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The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was little changed after briefly falling to its lowest level in two months Wednesday, as investors considered what could be on the horizon for interest rates and the economy ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was virtually flat at 4.41%, after falling earlier to 4.369%, its lowest level since Sept. 20. The 2-year note yield, meanwhile, rose by more than 1 basis point to 4.9%.
Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point equals 0.01%.
U.S. 10-year hits 2-month low
Bond markets did not react strongly to the weekly jobless claims numbers, which came in lower than expected. Initial jobless claims for the week ending Nov. 18 came in at 209,000, which was 20,000 less than a consensus estimate from Dow Jones and a drop from the prior week.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve released its latest meeting minutes on Tuesday, which did not suggest interest rate cuts will come soon. The minutes also noted that inflation remains too high above the Fed’s 2% target.
Data published since that meeting, which took place on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, has however indicated that inflationary pressures are easing. The consumer price index reflected a 3.2% increase on an annual basis in October, which was below previous estimates.
That prompted many investors to believe the Fed is done hiking rates and raised questions about when rate cuts could begin, despite Fed officials remaining quiet on this topic.
One more Fed meeting is scheduled for December. Markets were last pricing in an almost 95% chance of rates being left unchanged then, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, which was slightly lower than before the Fed’s meeting minutes.
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