U.S. government debt yields fell slightly on Wednesday after the Federal Open Market Committee decided to hold rates constant in November.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sat higher at around 2.369 percent at 2:24 p.m. ET, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was up at 2.853 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
As widely expected, the Federal Reserve declined to raise interest rates at its policy meeting this week and said the late-summer hurricanes likely will not have much longer-term impact on overall economic activity.
The Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank's policymaking arm, held its benchmark interest rate target between 1 percent and 1.25 percent. Markets predict the Fed will approve a quarter-point hike at its December meeting.
"They'll probably raise rates in December as they've signaled for some time. But today, they just didn't want to make any news," said Ed Keon of QMA of Fed members. "The market doesn't need drama from every fed meeting."
Treasurys
Bond experts have been closely following the yield curve, which has gotten to its flattest level since before the financial crisis. The spread between 2-year note yields and 10-year yields reached lows unseen since before the financial crisis.
The spread between the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield and 2-year yield fell to 0.739 during the day. If that holds, it will be the lowest close for the spread since November 2007.
The drop in the spread followed the U.S. Treasury announcement that indicated it will issue towards shorter-term securities, in contrast to comments from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about exploring issuance of 50-year or 100-year bonds.
The number of private-sector jobs created in October rose more than expected, with construction jobs surging in the wake of destructive hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
The ADP National Employment showed private-sector businesses added 235,000 jobs in the month. ADP was expected to show private employers added 200,000 jobs in October, up from 135,000 in September.
Non-manufacturing economic activity eased in October after two months of momentum.
ISM manufacturing index hits 58.7 in October; construction spending up 0.3 percent in September.
Speaking of the Fed, President Donald Trump is expected to announce his pick for the next chair of the central bank Thursday. While there are five key candidates for the role, Fed Governor Jerome Powell has been the recent favorite.
—CNBC's Patti Domm and Christopher Hayes contributed to this report.