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U.S. Treasury yields trended lower on Tuesday as investors looked forward to a round of economic data and a bond auction in the afternoon.
What are Treasurys doing?
The 10-year Treasury note yield TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.97% fell 1.6 basis point to 1.748%, while the 2-year note rate TMUBMUSD02Y, -0.71% was down 0.7 basis point to 1.598%. The 30-year bond yield TMUBMUSD30Y, -1.22% slipped 2.2 basis points to 2.185%.
What’s driving Treasurys?
On international trade, China’s Ministry of Commerce Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke on Tuesday. According to a statement, both sides ad “reached consensus on how to resolve related problems.”
Investors will also face U.S. economic data Tuesday morning. Advanced trade data for October, the Case-Shiller Home Price index will be out first, followed by last month’s new home sales numbers and the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for November at 10 a.m. ET
Later, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard is set to speak at 1 p.m. Eastern.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Monday that low inflation meant that interest rate hikes would not be necessary anytime soon. And Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said in an interview with CNBC that he expected the U.S.’s fourth-quarter economic performance to be weaker, ranging between 1.75% to 2%.
An auction for $41 billion of short-dated 5-year government notes is due at 1 p.m. Eastern.
What did market participants’ say?
“We judge the current downswing in yields as transitory – a necessary correction during an ongoing phase of shifting market narrative from a very negative to a slightly more constructive economic picture going into 2020,” wrote Peter Schaffrik, global macro analyst at RBC Capital Markets.
