US Treasury Yield Curve Flattens FOMC in Focus

The U.S. Treasury yield curve flattened on Wednesday, with minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in focus.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes held steady, yielding 2.41 percent, while 30-year notes rose to yield 3.21 percent.

Investors hope that the minutes, out at 2 p.m. ET, will shed further light on the Federal Reserve’s exit strategy from its asset-purchasing program and ultra-low benchmark interest rate.

“The question which everyone will be asking is if the Fed is ready to increase the interest rate sooner than later,” said AvaTrade Chief Market Analyst Naeem Aslam in a morning research note.

“Some hawkish members have certainly started beating the drums of an early increase; Philadelphia Fed’s Charles Plosser is certainly the leader of that group.”

With that in mind, Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s testimony at the annual symposium on monetary policy in Jackson Hole, Wyoming will be in focus. Yellen is slated to open the gathering on Friday with a speech on labor markets.

“The FOMC minutes are telling us about what happened three weeks ago, and Jackson Hole, given its precedent for signaling meaningful policy shifts, has taken on this very elevated status,” said Jeff Greenberg, senior economist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

via CNBC

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