Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the November 6-7, 2024, Federal Open Market Committee meeting at William McChesney Martin Jr. Federal Reserve Board Building, in Washington, DC, November 7, 2024.
The 10-year Treasury yield hovered near a 4-month high on Thursday after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell indicated that the central bank is in no hurry to slash interest rates.
The 10-year Treasury yield sat near flat at 4.449%, near its highest point since July. The yield on the 2-year Treasury added around 7 basis points to 4.353%.
Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point equals 0.01%.
The moves followed Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech in Dallas Thursday, where he told business leaders the cenral bank doesn't need to quickly cut interest rates. The Fed last week lowered its benchmark borrowing cost a quarter percentage point, and traders see it probably cutting rates a similar amount in December.
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"The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates," Powell said in prepared remarks. "The strength we are currently seeing in the economy gives us the ability to approach our decisions carefully."
Before that, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler pointed to "considerable" progress on inflation in remarks Thursday morning.
The speeches come as investors and economists scrutinize what President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House could mean for U.S. interest rates.
Money Report
The latest Fed views also follow inflation and employment data released earlier Thursday. The producer price index for October increased 0.2% for the month, matching estimates from economists polled by Dow Jones. Initial jobless claims for the week that ended Nov. 9 came in at 217,000, a drop of 4,000 from the previous week, which pointed to a still-strong economy.
— CNBC's Sarah Min contributed to this report.
