U.S. government debt prices were lower on Friday morning as investors waited for fresh nonfarm payrolls.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was seen trading higher at 2.8791 percent at around 2.50 a.m. ET, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was in the black, trading at 3.1434 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
Jitters in stock markets in the past few weeks have also weighed on traders, leading to increased buying in typically safe haven assets like government bonds and gold. However, recently, the bond market has been under particular scrutiny as the spread between the 2-year and 10-year yields has narrowed recently. This phenomenon, described as flattening of the yield curve, is often interpreted as a warning signal of an upcoming financial crisis.
Elsewhere, a report on the Wall Street Journal suggested on Thursday that the Federal Reserve is considering whether to signal a wait-and-see approach at its upcoming meeting. Investors are anticipating the Federal Reserve’s meeting on Dec. 18.-19.
On the data front, investors will be keeping a close watch on nonfarm payrolls, a key metric for Fed policy, due at 8.30 ET. At the same time, there will also be unemployment numbers.
