Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. Bond investors tightened the screws anyway.
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The market got a fresh batch of economic data, with new personal consumption expenditures and gross domestic product data released ahead of the opening bell. Inflation data came in cooler than expected. Core PCE, which excludes food and energy costs and is closely watched by the Federal Reserve, rose 0.1% from the month prior, below consensus estimates of 0.2% and the 0.3% increase seen in May. Headline PCE was roughly in line with expectations.
Bond yields stayed elevated on Thursday as Wall Street digested the Fed's decision to leave rates unchanged and Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh's comments.
Bond yields stayed elevated on Thursday as Wall Street digested the Fed's decision to leave rates unchanged and Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh's comments.
Yields on 30-year U.S. Treasurys rose further to hit 5.24%, a 19-year high, before paring gains slightly, in a sign of investors' worries about rising inflation and the Fed’s willingness to combat it. The Fed's statement yesterday delivered “a hawkish hold,” wrote economists at Barclays. “But this was unwound by a dovish presser in which Kevin Warsh emphasized tightening in financial conditions that now seems inconsistent with his reluctance to react to data.”
The bond market got a bit of relief after the Fed left short-term rates steady again. Yields on two-year Treasuries fell by as much as four basis points after Wednesday's Fed decision to 4.252%, compared with the previous close. Yields had been higher most of the day leading up to the interest-rate announcement.
The Federal Reserve opted to keep short-term interest rates steady again on Wednesday. At the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to keep its target for the federal-funds rate at 3.5% to 3.75% for the fifth straight meeting. Ahead of the announcement, the interest-rate futures market had the odds at 71% that officials would keep rates unchanged.
Renewed hostilities in the Middle East are pushing up Treasury yields as oil prices rally. The Iranian surprise attacks add uncertainty to U.S. monetary policy. Futures markets price in 64% odds of a hold by the Fed today, but bets on a hike rise to 36% from 31% yesterday, according to CME data.
The latest escalation in the Middle East conflict has been tough on fixed-income investors. Global government bonds have tumbled this week, sending yields sharply higher, as surging oil prices revived inflation fears.
Treasuries are getting hit hard thanks to data showing economic resilience and higher oil prices. Meanwhile, jobless claims unexpectedly plunged. Higher oil prices push up yields as investors demand more coupon for a potentially higher inflation print in the future.
Bond yields continued to climb on Wednesday as oil prices rose amid an escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Treasury yields continue to tick higher alongside oil prices, putting the 10-year yield close to its 2026 high point. The yield on the 10-year note climbed to 4.648% in morning trading, according to Tradeweb, just shy of the 4.687% intraday high that it reached on May 19. The uptick in oil prices is making investors more worried about the inflation outlook, with traders now seeing a roughly 50% chance that the Federal Reserve raises interest rates twice before the end of the year.
Treasury's fell sending yields higher, concluding a day of light U.S. economic data ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate meeting next week. Brent crude futures added 2% to settle above $90 a barrel.
After more than a decade of being starved for yield by the Federal Reserve, the bond market is finally offering us a clean, honest 5% return on zero-risk U.S. government debt.
Treasury yields rise as the number of people filing for jobless insurance in the U.S. falls to 208,000 from an upwardly revised 216,000. Economists surveyed by WSJ expected an increase to 218,000. The July Philadelphia Fed business activity gauge jumps to 41.
Fresh signs of cooling U.S. inflation revive demand for Treasuries, pushing yields down. June producer price index falls 0.3%. Ex-food and energy, PPI rises 0.2%. Both measures come below WSJ consensus forecast.
European bond yields are forging higher, in line with moves in U.S. Treasurys, as renewed hostilities in the Mideast push oil prices higher and revive inflation worries. The yield on the 10-year U.K. gilt has risen above 5%, after ending last week below 4.
Treasury yields rise as renewed tensions in the Middle East raise uncertainties. U.S. and Iran exchange fire over the weekend and crude prices rise 4%, clouding the outlook for inflation and interest rates.
"Warsh explicitly avoided policy guidance in the statement and press conference, so it seems unlikely that he would permit such guidance via the minutes," writes Englander, head of G-10 foreign-exchange research at the bank. Englander's prediction chimes with the way that Warsh, who spent more than a decade arguing that the Fed should say less, has approached his new post so far.
Stocks were up to start Thursday’s session after the unemployment rate fell unexpectedly in June. The Dow rose 370 points, or 0.7%. The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than economists expected in June, but unemployment dipped to 4.2%.
Treasury yields rise, on path for a quarterly increase. An agreement to fully restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains elusive and oil prices edge higher. Fed funds futures price at least one Fed hike this year, according to CME.
Treasury yields and the dollar ease as oil prices fall 3% and markets recalibrate the outlook for U.S. interest rates. Odds of one rate increase this year remain high, priced at 42% on CME's FedWatch tool, while odds of a second hike decline to 28% from 34% a week ago, as inflation forecasts cool down.
The loudest feedback on Kevin Warsh's first press conference as Fed chairman came from the bond market. Just look at the Treasury yield curve. U.S. debt maturing in 10-years now yields only 0.7663 percentage points more than debt maturing in 2 years.
Bonds are in the driver's seat as Kevin Warsh chairs his first Fed meeting. Look at the yield or interest rate on the 2-year note, which is up strongly by 0.097 percentage points. Higher yields on a shorter-dated note suggest the bond market is readying to see a rate hike by the Fed sometime this year.
The stock market was rising ahead of Kevin Warsh’s first Federal Open Market Committee meeting press conference. The Dow was up just 135 points, or 0.3%, after hitting another record on Tuesday. The Nasdaq was up 0.4%.
Treasury yields tick higher ahead of the first interest rate decision under Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh. Rates are expected to remain unchanged. Investors are curious about how Warsh will change the central bank's communications with the public and its forward guidance.
Demand for Treasuries picks up, sending yields lower, as details of the announced peace deal with Iran remain unclear and the first two-day Fed meeting with Warsh as chairman starts. Oil prices fall nearly 5% and the WSJ Dollar Index is flat.
Treasury yields and the dollar slip as President Trump and Iran agree to sign a peace deal later this week while markets brace for the first Fed meeting under Chairman Warsh. The U.S.-Iran pact is expected to restore normal oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
News of a deal between Washington and Tehran that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz has prompted investors to pare back bets on higher rates this morning. The thinking: If oil starts flowing more freely, energy prices would likely fall, reducing inflationary pressure and giving the Fed less reason to increase rates. It's a reversal from just a week ago, when investors were still digesting news of a stronger-than-expected May jobs report.
Treasury yields and the dollar rise amid hotter-than-expected U.S. wholesale inflation and as President Trump renews military threats against Iran. May PPI was 1.1%, matching April's advance and beating WSJ consensus of 0.