BOND REPORT: Treasury Yields Retreat As Global Stocks Turn Lower, Dollar Softens

U.S. 10-year benchmark yields slip to 2.30% as stocks slump

Treasury prices rose on Wednesday, pressuring yields, as investors await a late-afternoon speech from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen that could offer market participants further guidance on the path of monetary policy.

Yellen's speech will follow economic reports on services as market participants weigh the prospect of a leadership change at the U.S. central bank.

What did yields do?

The 2-year note yield was down 1.6 basis point at 1.459%, compared with 1.475% late Tuesday.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield was 2.9 basis points lower at 2.303%, versus 2.332%, while the 30-year bond yield traded down by 2.3 basis points at 2.849%, compared with 2.872%.

Bond prices move inversely to yields.

What are bond traders watching?

Yellen is due to give brief opening remarks at a conference on community banking at the St. Louis Fed at 3:15 p.m. Eastern.

Meanwhile, heightened talk that President Donald Trump has compiled a short list of candidates to lead the Fed, as Yellen's term ends early next year, has fueled some uncertainty about the central bank's policy strategy. Yellen is viewed as a candidate but former Fed Gov. Kevin Warsh (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/warsh-would-be-strange-pick-as-fed-chair-for-a-president-who-says-he-cares-about-jobs-2017-10-03), who is seen as more hawkish, or more willing to increase rates rapidly, has been discussed as a possible candidate. Fed Gov. Jerome Powell (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-interviewed-fed-gov-powell-for-top-job-at-central-bank---wsj-2017-09-29), who is seen as less hawkish than Warsh, is also seen as a potential front-runner.

What data are on investors' radar?

What did other assets do?

The 10-year German government bond yield retreated to 0.419%, versus 0.459%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index were poised to give up their records levels (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-set-to-catch-their-breath-after-record-run-but-tesla-jumps-2017-10-04)at the open, offering some runway to assets perceived as havens, like bonds and gold futures . Gold was set to snap a three-session skid lower. The U.S. dollar also slipped, down 0.2%, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index , which measures the buck against a half-dozen rival currencies.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 04, 2017 08:43 ET (12:43 GMT)