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Shorter-dated Treasury yields edged higher Thursday, with traders weighing prospects for interest rate hikes. Yields held steady across the rest of the curve, with oil prices choppy as Iran-Oman talks over the Strait of Hormuz came into focus.
The 10-year Treasury note yield — the main benchmark for mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt — was unchanged at 4.6208%. The longer-dated 30-year Treasury yield, which is often sensitive to geopolitical events, was also flat at 5.1711%.
But the shorter-dated 2-year Treasury note yield, which tends to react in line with short-term Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, was more than 1 basis point higher at 4.1977%.
One basis point equals 0.01%, or 1/100th of 1%, and yields and prices move inversely to one another.
The moves came as Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari told CNBC Wednesday that “now is the time” for policymakers to start raising rates, pointing to strong corporate earnings coupled with solid consumer and labor market sentiment.
As investors gear up for Friday’s nonfarm payrolls data and unemployment rate for July — which is forecast to show an increase of 83,000 jobs, and unemployment unchanged at 4.2% — the Middle East is also weighing on markets.
Oil prices oscillated above and below the flatline, after Iran said it had reached an understanding with Oman on shipping flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
West Texas Intermediate futures for September delivery were down 0.25% at $75.05, while global benchmark Brent crude was up almost 0.1% at $79.49.
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