U.S. Treasuries gain on hopes of further 25bp rate cut by Fed

The U.S. Treasuries gained during Tuesday’s afternoon session on hopes of a further 25bp interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its monetary policy meeting on Wednesday amid an otherwise silent trading day that barely witnessed any data of major economic significance.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield slumped nearly 2-1/2 basis points to 1.830 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yield plunged nearly 3-1/2 basis points to 2.316 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year traded 1-1/2 basis points down at 1.636 percent by 13:15GMT.

The main event in the US will be the conclusion of the latest FOMC meeting tomorrow. The outcome is more uncertain than recent meetings, although the Fed might not want to upset the markets, which are pricing in a near-90 percent probability of a rate cut, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.

It will be a busy one for top-tier US data too, with the first estimate of Q3 GDP (Wednesday) and October's labour market report and manufacturing ISM (Friday) the highlights. Having slowed in Q2 to 2 percent q/q annualised, GDP growth is expected to have moderated further in Q3 to 1.6 percent q/q ann. which (aside from the Government shutdown related slowdown in Q418) would be softest pace for almost four years, the report added.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures remained flat at 3,033.88 by 13:25GMT.