10-year Treasury yield treads water ahead of jobs data, Fed minutes

U.S. Treasury yields were flat early on Wednesday as investors awaited labor market data and the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury hovered fractionally above the flatline after hitting its highest level for more than eight months on Tuesday. It was last at 4.697%. The 2-year Treasury yield was less than one basis point higher at 4.304%.

Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point equals 0.01%.

Data releases in the previous session showed a higher-than-expected number of job openings for November, and an increase in the December ISM services price index, both reinforcing expectations that the Fed will act with caution in its rate cut path this year.

Minutes from the central bank’s latest meeting, at which it cut its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point and surprised with the hawkishness of its closely watched “dot plot,” are due at 2 p.m. ET.

Also scheduled for Wednesday is the ADP’s private payrolls report, expected to show the addition of 130,000 jobs in December, before the month’s jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.