Powell Damps Hopes for "Aggressive Rate Cuts," Ending U.S. Treasury’s Winning Streak

BlockBeats news, on September 19, after Federal Reserve Chairman Powell dampened market expectations for a "more aggressive rate cut," U.S. Treasuries experienced their first weekly decline since mid-August. On Friday, yields on U.S. Treasuries across all maturities rose by 1 to 3 basis points, continuing the upward momentum that began after the Federal Reserve announced a 25 basis point rate cut on Wednesday. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield edged up to 4.12%, reaching its highest level in two weeks. At the press conference following the policy decision, Powell stated that policymakers would decide future monetary policy on a "meeting-by-meeting" basis. This statement suppressed market expectations for a "rapid rate cut," although the interest rate swap market still tends to believe that the Federal Reserve will cut rates two more times this year.

Amar Reganti, fixed income strategist at Hartford Funds, said: "Before this Federal Reserve meeting, the bond market was extremely optimistic, both in sentiment and positioning. The Fed did implement a rate cut, and there may be a few more in the future, but this clearly did not endorse the market's current expectations." Previously, despite inflation remaining above the Federal Reserve's target, signs of weakness in the labor market led the market to bet that policymakers would quickly lower borrowing costs, driving U.S. Treasury prices higher; however, the post-meeting sell-off ended this round of gains. (Golden Ten Data)