U.S. Treasuries gain ahead of 30-year auction, FOMC members’ speeches

The U.S. Treasuries remained tad higher Thursday as investors wait to watch a host of speeches by Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members through the day. Members Brainard and Powell are scheduled to speak today by 14:30GMT respectively. Also, due at 17:00GMT is the super-long 30-year auction, which will add detailed direction to the debt market.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury slipped nearly 1 basis point to 2.34 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields hovered around 2.87 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year note also traded close to 1 basis point higher at 1.51 percent by 10:55MT.

The persistence of low inflation had more Federal Reserve officials wondering whether an interest rate was needed in December, according to minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting released Wednesday. Several Fed officials said that they now believed it would be longer than they had previously thought to get inflation back to the central bank’s 2% target.

Taking their lead from Wall Street overnight, where US equities reached new record highs, major Asian shares hit multi-year peaks on Thursday. Reacting to the FOMC meeting minutes release, the US dollar remained under pressure. Easing political concerns over Catalonia that stopped short earlier in the week of formally declaring independence from Spain and increasing signs of robust economic activity in the euro area recently have been positive factors that favored the common currency.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures traded 0.08 percent lower at 2,551.00 by 10:50GMT, while at 10:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Dollar Strength Index remained neutral at -40.31 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

FxWirePro launches Absolute Return Managed Program. For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/invest