WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Treasuries moved to the downside during trading on Wednesday, offsetting the strength seen over the course of the previous session.
Bond prices drifted lower as the day progressed, ending the day firmly in negative territory. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 2.7 basis points to 4.147 percent.
The ten-year yield more than offset the 2.3 basis point decrease seen on yesterday's session, reaching its highest closing level in almost three weeks.
The pullback by treasuries may have reflected lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks on Tuesday.
Powell noted in remarks at an event in Rhode Island that near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside, which he called a 'challenging situation.'
'Two-sided risks mean that there is no risk-free path,' Powell said. 'If we ease too aggressively, we could leave the inflation job unfinished and need to reverse course later to fully restore 2 percent inflation.'
'If we maintain restrictive policy too long, the labor market could soften unnecessarily,' he continued. 'When our goals are in tension like this, our framework calls for us to balance both sides of our dual mandate.'
Powell reiterated that monetary policy is 'not on a preset course' and said future interest rate decisions would be based on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.
A Commerce Department report morning showing new home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly skyrocketed to their highest level in well over three years in August may have also reduced the safe-haven appeal of bonds.
The Commerce Department said new home sales soared by 20.5 percent to an annual rate of 800,000 in August after slumping by 1.8 percent to a revised rate of 664,000 in July.
Economists had expected new home sales to slip by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of 650,000 from the 652,000 originally reported for the previous month.
With the unexpected spike, housing starts leapt to their highest level since hitting an annual rate of 807,000 in January 2022.
Trading on Thursday may be impacted by reaction to reports on weekly jobless claims, durable goods orders and existing home sales.
Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2025 AFX News
