Bonds

US Treasury yields steady as investors await large Treasury auctions, inflation data

Key Points
  • This week the Treasury Department will auction $34 billion of threeā€year notes, $26 billion of 10ā€year notes (a record, per BMO Capital Markets), and $18 billion of 30ā€year bonds.
  • Inflation data in the form of producer prices and consumer prices are expected Thursday and Friday, receptively.
  • The Department of Labor said Friday that total nonfarm payrolls increased by 157,000 for the month.

U.S. government debt yields fell slightly on Monday ahead of a week of large Treasury auctions and inflation data.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was slightly lower at around 2.945 percent at 4:06 p.m. ET, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond slipped to 3.093 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.

This week the Treasury Department will auction $34 billion of threeā€year notes (+$3 billion vs. the previous auction), $26 billion of 10ā€year notes (+$4 billion, and a record per BMO Capital Markets), and $18 billion of 30ā€year bonds (+$4 billion). Inflation data in the form of producer prices and consumer prices are expected Thursday and Friday, receptively.

Treasurys


Markets around the globe pulled back Monday, as concerns surrounding trade tensions continued. Last week, China said it was ready to retaliate with tariffs on around $60 billion worth of U.S. goods, amid a mounting trade war with the States. Beijing added that import taxes would be within the range of 5 percent to 25 percent in rates, with many of the goods listed linked to agriculture.

The U.S. administration revealed last Wednesday that President Donald Trump had spoken with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and asked him to consider increasing the proposed levies on $200 billion of Chinese goods up to 25 percent, from 10 percent.

Markets in Asia and Europe came under slight pressure on Monday morning, as investors awaited more news on the retaliatory tariffs.

While no major speeches by the U.S. Federal Reserve are scheduled to take place Monday, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard spoke with CNBC on the first trading day of the week.

"The positioning here is that the other countries are all free trade and the U.S. is not. If that's really what we're saying then just drop all tariffs and all non-tariff barriers. Go down to zero. That would be better outcome for the whole world," Bullard told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe."

The U.S. government reported on Friday that payroll growth slowed in July.

The Department of Labor said that total nonfarm payrolls increased by 157,000 for the month, below the 190,000 expected by economists polled by Reuters. The unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.9 percent, as expected, and is around its lowest level in nearly 50 years.

A tightening labor market and healthy domestic demand have spurred worries of an overheating economy and continued interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve.

But despite the robust labor market, wage growth remains sluggish; average hourly earnings rose 2.7 percent over the same period a year ago, or 0.26 percent over the last month.

ā€”CNBC's Natasha Turak and Michael Sheetz contributed to this report