Treasury yields changed little following Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s semiannual monetary policy report today to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, citing that the strength of the economy is prime for “gradually raising the federal funds rate.”
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note inched higher to 2.858 percent at 1:15 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, the 2-year Treasury yield inched up by 1.2 basis points to 2.615 percent and the yield on the 30-year moved slightly slower to 2.964 percent.
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Compared to a year ago, the yield on the benchmark Treasury has increased by 32.4 percent and 18.3 percent year-to-date.
Powell is expected to face a barrage of questions from lawmakers on various topics, including interest rates, the effect of trade wars on monetary policy and inflation. An ongoing concern is chatter within the markets regarding the 2-year and 10-year Treasury yield curves inverting–a possible signal that the economy could head into a recessionary state.