U.S. Treasury yields were lower on Thursday as investors awaited further economic data and digested U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff plans.
At 4:36 a.m. ET, the 10-year Treasury yield slipped more than a basis point to 4.5248%, while the 2-year Treasury was down more than a basis point to 4.2614%.
One basis point is equal to 0.01% and yields move inversely to prices.
On Thursday, investors will look for the weekly initial jobless claims for the week of Feb. 15, due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
They are also expecting the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index in the morning, which measures business activity in the Fed district and will offer fresh insights about the health of the U.S. economy.
Fed officials are expected to give a slew of speeches throughout the day, including Fed Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee and Fed Governor Adriana Kugler.
Meanwhile, investors are mulling over Trump’s most recent tariff suggestions, which include implementing a 25% duty on automobiles, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
Trump said the tariffs could “go very substantially higher over a course of a year,” and could start as early as April 2.
Meeting minutes released on Wednesday showed that Fed officials said they would need to see inflation come down before cutting interest rates further, and were worried about how Trump’s tariffs could affect this.
“Participants indicated that, provided the economy remained near maximum employment, they would want to see further progress on inflation before making additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate,” they said.
They also pointed out “upside risks to the inflation outlook. In particular, participants cited the possible effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy.”