U.S. Treasury yields were higher on Monday as investors considered the state of the economy and looked ahead to key economic data slated for this week.
At 4:12 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was over two basis points higher to 4.2091%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last up by more than three basis points to 4.5643%.
Yields and prices move in opposite directions and one basis point equals 0.01%.
Investors weighed the path ahead for the economy, including inflation — after recent data painted a somewhat mixed picture — and awaited fresh insights from the economy expected this week.
Last week, January’s personal consumption expenditures price index was published and was in line with expectations. Annual figures for both headline PCE and core PCE, which does not include energy or food prices, fell slightly from December’s reading.
Meanwhile, the consumer and producer price index readings for January had both come in hotter than expected, which raised concerns among investors that inflationary pressures are stickier than many had been hoping.
Inflation expectations from consumers also grew, data from the University of Michigan released last week showed.
Investors have been looking to economic data for hints about not only the state of the economy, but also the outlook for Federal Reserve interest rates. Many are hoping for rate cuts and are seeing data that suggests a cooling economy as an encouraging sign, while signals of persistent inflation are viewed as a signal that rate cuts may still be a way off.
Fresh insights will come this week in the form of labor market data, including JOLTs job openings figures, private payrolls data from ADP and the February jobs report. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is also expected to provide testimony about monetary policy to the House of Representatives on Wednesday and to the Senate on Thursday.
