U.S. Treasury yields fluctuated on Wednesday morning, before a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell later in the day.
The yield on the 10-year reference Treasury note rose slightly to 1.043% at 4 am ET, while the yield on 30-year Treasury bills rose to 1.803%. Yields move inversely to prices.
Yields on US government bonds remained stable at the start of trading, with Powell expected to provide an update on the central bank’s economic outlook and monetary policy amid the pandemic.
Many investors expect Powell and his colleagues to avoid the word “tapering”, the process by which the central bank would restrict its monthly purchases of securities that helped keep the financial system adrift with money and encouraged investors to take risks despite the rich equity assessments.
The Fed is expected to disclose its interest rate decision at 2 pm ET, with Powell expected to speak to reporters at 2:30 pm ET.
The launch of coronavirus vaccines helped to lift the global economic outlook for the International Monetary Fund, which was released on Tuesday. The IMF now expects the global economy to grow 5.5% in 2021, 0.3% more than forecast in October.
December data for durable goods orders is expected to be released at 8:30 am ET on Wednesday.
Weekly EIA inventory change data for gasoline, crude oil, crude oil Cushing and distillate are due to be released at 10:30 am ET.
The auctions will be held on Wednesday for $ 25 billion in 105-day notes, $ 30 billion in 154-day notes and $ 28 billion in 2-year floating rate notes.
– CNBC’s Thomas Franck contributed to this report.