U.S. government debt prices pared earlier losses Wednesday, as traders digested the release of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) July meeting.
Shorter-dated treasury yields moved lower after the announcement. The yield on the was last at 0.7257, having ramped up to about 0.77 ahead of the release.
Some voting Federal Reserve policymakers expect that a U.S. interest rate increase will be needed soon, although there is general agreement that more data is needed before such a move, according to the minutes from the Fed's July policy meeting
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was down on Wednesday, near 1.5466 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was down at 2.2619 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
Traders will be scrutinizing the report for any indications of a potential interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve in 2016, and further details into what the central bank currently thinks about the U.S. economy.
Treasurys
Speaking ahead of the release on Tuesday, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said he believed the U.S. economy would likely be strong enough to handle at least one rate hike before the year was out.
Meanwhile, New York Fed President William Dudley said a rate hike in September was "possible." St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is also expected to speak ahead of the release.
On the data front, Mortgage Applications fell 4 percent, even with mortgage rates near record lows.
U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by 2.5 million barrels in the week through Aug. 12 to a total of 521.1 million barrels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude futures pared their gains after the report and were last down at $46.50 per barrel and up at $49.60 respectively.
There are no auctions or announcements relating to the U.S. Treasury expected to take place on Wednesday.