Bonds

US Treasury yields lower after Powell comments

U.S. government debt yields fell on Friday as investors digested comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was lower at around 2.697 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also lower at 3.033 percent.

Treasurys


In a speech on Thursday, Powell said he was concerned about the ballooning amount of United States debt. Powell, addressing the Economic Club of Washington in a panel talk, also said the Fed's balance sheet will be reduced significantly from where it is now but also reiterated that policymakers were prepared to wait before hiking rates again.

Elsewhere, market focus was also attuned to news that trade talks between the world's two largest economies could soon move to higher levels. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that Vice Premier Liu would most likely visit Washington later in January for further negotiations.

—CNBC's Sam Meredith contributed to this article.