U.S. Treasury yields have declined, pressured by a fresh batch of positive economic data and uncertainty surrounding the 2024 U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve’s future interest rate path.
Treasury yields dropped to 4.074%, compared to the previous day’s close of 4.096%. Yields on these sovereign securities had reached a session high of 4.122% and a low of 3.067%.
The U.S. housing starts index fell by 0.5% to 1.354 million units, but remained above market expectations of 1.350 million units. The U.S. building permits index, an indicator of future construction activity, declined by 2.9% to 1.428 million permits in September, compared to expectations of 1.460 million permits.
U.S. retail sales for September increased by 0.4% compared to the previous month’s reading of 0.1%, which was higher than market expectations of a 0.3% increase.
Retail sales excluding automobiles also rose by 0.5% last month compared to the previous month’s reading of 0.2%, indicating higher-than-expected levels.