The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped on Tuesday as investors prepared for the release of delayed jobs data after the 43-day government shutdown ended.
The 10-year Treasury yield — the benchmark for U.S. government borrowing — was down more than 1 basis point at 4.119%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note dropped by more than 3 basis points to 3.577%. The 30-year bond yield, meanwhile, was up less than 1 basis point at 4.741%.
One basis point equals 0.01%, or 1/100th of 1%, and yields and prices move inversely to one another.
Expectations of a further interest rate cut in December by the Federal Reserve have receded lately, as the data blackout resulting from the longest government shutdown in history has clouded the overall economic picture.
With the Fed increasingly divided over the future path of monetary policy, investors are now keeping close tabs on several crucial economic indicators, set to be released in the coming days, to help navigate the uncertainty.
This flurry of data includes the trade balance for August, scheduled to be published Wednesday, followed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics' nonfarm payrolls report September on Thursday.
On Tuesday, ADP data showed that private employers cut an average of 2,500 jobs per week in the last four weeks. Initial jobless claims for the week ended Oct. 18 also came in at 232,000, the Labor Department reported. The figures serve as the latest sign of some softness in the labor market.