U.S. Treasury yields moved higher on Thursday, with the 10-year Treasury yield moving back above the 4% level, as investors weighed the latest trade news and looked ahead to key inflation data.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield added 5 basis points to 4.003%. The 2-year Treasury note yield rose more than 4 basis points to 3.491%, as did the 30-year bond to 4.583%.
One basis point is equal to 0.01% and yields and prices move inversely to one another.
Investors kept an eye on scheduled trade talks between the U.S. and China after President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping will take place next week in South Korea, the two leaders’ first direct talks since 2019, possibly signaling a thaw in relations.
Separately, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the White House is considering plans to restrict exports to China made with U.S. software, telling CNBC’s Eamon Javers that “everything’s on the table.” The plans would retaliate for Beijing’s sweeping rare-earth export controls.
“If these export controls, whether it’s software, engines or other things happen, it will likely be in coordination with our G-7 allies,” Bessent said.
Investors are also looking ahead to the postponed September consumer price index, slated for release Friday, for further clues into the state of the economy ahead of the Federal Reserve’s 2-day policy meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday. Traders widely expect the Fed to cut rates another quarter percentage point, to 3.75% to 4.00%, according to interest rates futures trading calculated on the CME FedWatch Tool.
“We don’t think the [CPI] report will deter the FOMC from cutting rates, even without supporting data on nonfarm payrolls, as many officials are fearful that the surprising weakness seen in the August jobs report signaled a sharp deterioration in jobs,” CFRA chief investment strategist Sam Stovall said in a note to clients.
