Treasury yields continued to retreat on Tuesday as traders await this week’s Federal Reserve interest rate decision, while the ongoing pause in U.S.-Iran hostilities sent oil prices lower, raising hopes of a more sustainable ceasefire arrangement.
The 10-year Treasury note yield — the main benchmark for mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt — was down by about 4 basis points at 4.602%.
The yield on the 2-year Treasury note, which tends to react in line with short-term Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, was also 5 basis point lower at 4.273%. The longer-dated 30-year Treasury yield, which is often sensitive to geopolitical events, was seen more than 3 basis points lower at 5.093%.
One basis point equals 0.01%, or 1/100th of 1%, and yields and prices move inversely to one another.
Investors will be closely watching the Fed’s interest rate decision, due Wednesday. The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee is expected to leave rates unchanged at 3.75%, with markets instead pricing in a 56% chance of a September hike, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Traders are also monitoring events in the Middle East, after President Donald Trump said the U.S. had held “good talks” with Iran on Monday.
The ongoing pause in hostilities has continued to push oil prices lower. West Texas Intermediate futures were 1.6% lower at $81.27 per barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude — the global oil price benchmark — was 2% lower at $86.63.
