U.S. Treasuries tad up as investors await Fed’s policy decision, post-meeting press conference

The U.S. Treasuries gained slightly during afternoon session Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision, scheduled to be unveiled today by 18:00GMT. Also, investors will keep a close eye on the central bank’s post-meeting press conference, which will provide a detailed direction to the debt market, besides, tomorrow’s 10-year TIPS auction, due to be held at 17:00GMT.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield slipped 1-1/2 percent to 2.5948 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields also remained 1-1/2 basis points lower at 3.011 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year traded tad lower at 2.464 percent by 11:50GMT.

"Certainly, we expect more dovish dot plots than the previous set issued in December, with the dots back then showing the median expectation for two interest rate hikes this year and a further 25bp hike in 2020. We expect the dots to be tightly packed this time around, with the median view likely to suggest no change to rates all year and only a modest skew to the upside. Of additional interest will be further insights into the Fed’s balance sheet plans. With Chairman Powell indicating in January that the FOMC expects to end the redemption of securities later this year, the Committee might well provide more details with specific dates and as to whether it plans to end its redemptions suddenly or to do so gradually via a taper," Daiwa Capital Markets commented in its daily commentary.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures edged tad lower to 2,835.00 by 11:55GMT, while at 11:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Dollar Strength Index remained neutral at -36.31 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex