Treasury Yields Drop After Fed Minutes But Quickly Reverse

Treasury yields continued to rise toward session highs Wednesday afternoon after briefly retreating following minutes from the Federal Reserve's January meeting that were taken as slightly tilted on the dovish side. The minutes showed that the majority of Fed officials showed concern about stock market weakness and thought the central bank should hold off on a further rise in interest rates. Yields on all Treasury maturities lost about a basis point after the release, but remained higher on the day, amid a rally in risk assets, mainly stocks and oil, that led investors to sell government debt, pushing prices lower and yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, the Treasury market's benchmark, was up 6.5 basis points at 1.842%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury was up 6.4 basis points to 2.705%. The 2-year Treasury yield was up 3.6 basis points to 0.758%. Treasury yields rise when prices fall and vice versa.

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