By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices rose for a second day, pushing yields down slightly, ahead of the release later Tuesday of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last monetary-policy meeting, when the statement sent yields up sharply out of a multi-month range.
Also, the Reserve Bank of Australia continued to point to an interest-rate cut, indicating continuing worries about global economic growth.
Yields on 10-year notes 10_YEAR -0.68% , which move inversely to prices, slipped 1 basis point to 2.19%. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Thirty-year bond yields 30_YEAR -0.66% declined 2 basis points to 3.33%.
Yields on 5-year notes 5_YEAR -0.30% turned up 1 basis point to 1.02%.
“Treasurys were slightly better bid overnight, taking more direction from the dovish statement from the RBA than the improving European economic data,” said bond strategists at CRT Capital group.
Gains are limited as traders expect the Fed’s minutes, due to be released at 2 p.m. Eastern time, to emphasize improvement in the U.S. outlook, which would be negative for bond prices.
“We get the rather strong impression that everyone is looking for the bearish elements and trading accordingly, i.e. short,” the CRT strategists wrote.
