U.S. Treasury yields wavered on Monday as investors weighed the effect of the assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump and analyzed comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed around 4 basis points to 4.23%. The 2-year Treasury yield slipped by about 1 basis point to 4.45%.
Yields and prices have an inverted relationship. One basis point equals 0.01%.
Powell indicated on Monday at an event in Washington, D.C., that the Fed won't wait until inflation is down to its 2% goal before starting to cut interest rates. He also said a hard landing scenario was unlikely for the U.S. economy.
"The implication of that is that if you wait until inflation gets all the way down to 2%, you've probably waited too long, because the tightening that you're doing, or the level of tightness that you have, is still having effects which will probably drive inflation below 2%," Powell said.
This comes after last week's inflation data, which saw the consumer price index, or CPI, unexpectedly decline, while the producer price index came in hotter than expected.
The CPI fell 0.1% in June from May and came in at 3% on an annual basis. A 0.1% increase was expected on a monthly basis and 3.1% rise from a year earlier. Wholesale prices climbed 0.2% in June from the previous month, above the forecast 0.1% rise.
Money Report
Traders also considered the effect of the assassination attempt on Trump on markets and the economy ahead of the November election. Investors will often buy Treasuries during geopolitical tumult as a safe haven, but there were little signs of that kind of buying on Monday.
Bryn Jones, head of fixed income at Rathbones, told CNBC on Monday that there had been "remarkably little" commentary from economists on the shooting. Investors remained more focused on inflation, unemployment and the questions surrounding whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, he said in emailed comments.
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— CNBC's Jesse Pound contributed to this report.
