Treasury yields fall as investors take stock of U.S. economic outlook

NEW YORK (April 25) U.S. Treasury yields declined on Monday as investors assessed the state of the U.S. economy and weighed the Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate decision.

As of 5:19 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was down by 3 basis points to 3.539%. The 2-year Treasury was last trading at 4.156% after falling by more than 3 basis points.

Yields and prices have an inverted relationship and one basis point is equivalent to 0.01%.

Investors are considering what could be next for the U.S. economy after economic data published last week was mixed.

Thursday’s Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index reading for April showed that business activity in the region continued to contract, and by significantly more than previously anticipated. On Friday, flash PMI data for April came in above expectations in both the services and manufacturing sectors.

On Monday, investors will be looking to the release of the latest Dallas Fed manufacturing index for fresh insights. Several key data points are also due this week, including durable goods orders on Wednesday, the gross domestic product growth rate on Thursday and the personal consumption expenditure price index on Friday.

The latter is one of the Fed’s favored inflation gauges and could therefore influence the central bank’s next policy moves, including a fresh decision on interest rates, at its next meeting on May 2-3. Many investors are expecting a further 25 basis point rate increase to be announced then.

CNBC