U.S. government debt yields rose Wednesday after Federal Reserve policymakers tempered expectations in the markets for aggressive monetary easing.
At around 3:29 p.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was higher at around 2.05%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at around 2.569%.
Treasurys
Market focus is largely attuned to monetary policy settings, after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank would be "insulated from short-term political pressures" on Tuesday. James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, also downplayed prospects of a rate cut. Market expectations point to a rate cut in July.
Earlier in the session, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell below 2% as investors looked for safety following the release of weaker-than-expected confidence data.
Meanwhile, investors are also looking ahead to a G-20 meeting later this week, where President Donald Trump is due to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. Data released Tuesday showed a 4% drop in U.S. property sales to Chinese buyers between 2017 and 2018 — as the trade war between both economies continues.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC Wednesday that the U.S. and China were almost there on a trade deal.
"We were about 90% of the way there (with a deal) and I think there's a path to complete this," he told CNBC's Hadley Gamble on Wednesday.
—CNBCs Sam Meredith and Spriha Srivastava contributed to this report.