U.S. Treasuries declined on Wednesday as oil prices stabilized, while an auction of five-year notes saw weaker-than-expected demand. The yield on the newly issued five-year note came in slightly above pre-auction levels, and July's overall PCE price index failed to show signs of cooling. Shortly after 3 p.m. in New York, front-end Treasury yields were up between 4 and 5 basis points, with the 10-year yield climbing roughly 3 basis points to 4.66%, while the 30-year yield rose by less than 2 basis points to 5.18%.
The recent downward pressure on yields, driven by falling oil prices, appeared to ease as crude stabilized. WTI crude futures settled 0.2% lower at $82.23 per barrel, after earlier sliding as much as 3.3% and briefly dipping below $80 for the first time since August 10. While U.S. economic data had a limited impact on Treasuries, July's personal income and spending figures revealed that the headline PCE price increase exceeded economist forecasts. The index rose 0.2% month-over-month, above the median estimate of 0.1%, and held steady at 3.7% year-over-year, higher than the projected 3.6%.
Before the release of the economic data at 8:30 a.m., Treasury yields across maturities fell to session lows without any clear catalyst. The 2-year yield dropped more than 1 basis point to 4.16%, marking its lowest level of the week, before recovering to around 4.22% at the close. The Treasury's auction of $70 billion in five-year notes resulted in a high yield of 4.393%, compared to a pre-auction trading level of 4.391% at the 1 p.m. bid deadline in New York, indicating slightly weaker demand than anticipated. However, the market reaction to the auction results was muted.
As of 4:55 p.m. Eastern Time, the 2-year Treasury yield was at 4.2073%, the 5-year yield at 4.3601%, the 10-year yield at 4.6446%, and the 30-year yield at 5.1682%. The spread between the 5-year and 30-year yields stood at 80.45 basis points, while the gap between the 2-year and 10-year yields was 43.32 basis points.