U.S. Treasury yields declined Thursday as investors sifted through a batch of economic data and prepared for next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury was down nearly 6 basis points to 4.226%. The 2-year Treasury yield dropped 1 basis point lower to 4.404%.
Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point equals 0.01%.
Yields ticked up slightly after a Commerce Department report suggested that economic growth has been stronger than expected. The gross domestic product grew at a 2.8% annualized pace in the second quarter. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting GDP to rise at an annualized growth rate of 2.4%.
Meanwhile, initial jobless claims for last week came in at 235,000, matching expectations.
This week has shown conflicting signs of which way the U.S. economy is headed.
Data released Wednesday from the manufacturing sector for July came in below expectations, with the U.S. PMI flash manufacturing output index falling to 49.5 as new orders, production and inventories fell. Economists had forecast the figure to come in at 51.5.
Readings below 50 indicate a contraction, while those above 50 reflect growth.
Friday will bring key inflation figures in the form of the personal consumption expenditures price index. This is the Fed’s preferred inflation measure and could therefore affect the central bank’s decision-making and guidance issued about monetary policy when it meets next week.
Markets are widely expecting interest rates to remain unchanged then, but are hoping to gain hints about what the path ahead for rates could look like, including when cuts may begin and how many there could be this year.
