U.S. Treasuries plunge ahead of FOMC speeches, Q1 GDP

The U.S. Treasuries plunged ahead of the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and FOMC member Harker’s speech, scheduled for later today. Also, the 5-year auction, due just before the former’s speech will provide further direction to the debt market.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury, jumped 2 basis points to 2.16 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields surged 1-1/2 basis points to 2.71 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year note traded 2 basis points higher at 1.37 percent by 11:40GMT.

The Quarterly Services Survey for Q1 suggests that the country’s service sector is gaining momentum on upbeat revenues and expenses, indicating that spending on services may have been greater than the BEA’s prior estimates. However, incoming data on other components of GDP have been lacklustre, reports said.

The Federal Reserve will likely pursue a slower pace of rate tightening compared to that reflected in the latest Fed “dot plots” released two weeks ago. Looking at this week’s calendar, the US administration will attempt to push the healthcare bill through Congress before the July 4 Independence Day.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures traded 0.11 percent lower at 2,433.25 by 11:40GMT, while at 11:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Dollar Strength Index remained slightly bearish at -83.80 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex