The yield on US Treasury bonds rose slightly, which is due to increased expectations of an early increase in the Fed's interest rate.
The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds rose by 0.6 basis points, reaching 1.833%, while the yield on 30-year bonds was 2.147% (+0.8 basis points). Meanwhile, the yield on 2-year Treasury bonds, reflecting expectations of short-term interest rates, also rose by 1.2 basis points to 1.037%.
Economists note that the rise in bond yields this week was due to concerns about the timing of the tightening of the Fed's policy and rising inflation. According to HSBC forecasts, over the next two years, the yield of 10-year US Treasury bonds will fluctuate in the range of 1.5%-2%.
As for the US data, a report on the number of initial applications for unemployment benefits will be released today at 13:30 GMT, which will provide clues about the recovery of the US economy after the pandemic. It is expected that the number of initial applications amounted to 220 thousand compared to 230 thousand a week earlier.
Meanwhile, at 15:00 GMT, a report on existing home sales for December will be released (sales are expected to have decreased to 6.44 million from 6.46 million in November).