U.S. Treasurys in focus as investors await Jackson Hole symposium

The U.S. 10-year Treasury rose on Thursday as investors looked ahead to remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury was up more than 2 basis points at 3.799%, while the yield on the 2-year Treasury was roughly 1 basis point higher at 3.929%.

Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point equals 0.01%.

Powell is set to give a speech at the annual Jackson Hole symposium on Friday. His comments come after the release of minutes from the central bank’s July policy meeting.

The minutes showed the “vast majority” of Fed officials “observed that, if the data continued to come in about as expected, it would likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting.”

Market participants are firmly pricing in an interest rate cut at the U.S. central bank’s next meeting. Traders are currently pricing in a roughly 66% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut in September, with just over one-third pricing in a 50-basis-point rate cut, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

On the data front, the latest reading of weekly initial jobless claims will be released at around 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday.

A flash reading of manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for August and services PMI for August, existing home sales data for July and the Kansas City Fed’s survey for August will all follow slightly later in the session.