Yields on the 10-year Treasury note — a key barometer for U.S. government borrowing — were seen about 2 basis points lower, at 4.4241%, in early trade. Yields on the shorter-term 2-year Treasury note, which closely track interest rate decisions by the Federal Reserve, moved lower by more than 2 basis points, to 3.9357%.
The 30-year Treasury yield also slipped more than 2 basis points, but remains above 5%, at to 5.0074%.
One basis point equals 0.01%, and yields and prices move inversely to one another.
West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 2.6% on Tuesday morning to trade at $103.63, as skirmishes around the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian strikes on the United Arab Emirates threaten to unravel the precarious ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran.
Investors are awaiting fresh hiring data from the Bureau of Statistics for clearer insights into the somewhat muddy employment picture later.
The bureau’s monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), which tracks hiring demand and dynamics, is expected to show job openings at 6.83 million in March, according to consensus forecasts. New openings fell by 358,000 to 6.882 million during February, according to the index.
Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management’s services PMI for April is also due out later.
The index — a gauge of non-manufacturing business activity — fell to 54 points in March, down from 56.10 in February, suggesting a slowdown in the services sector.
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