10-year Treasury yield in focus as investors assess rate outlook

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was slightly lower on Monday as investors returned from the Christmas holiday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped more than 2 basis points to 4.112%, while the yield on the 2-year Treasury was last seen 1 basis point lower at 3.473%.

Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point equals 0.01%.

The moves come as traders digest the latest economic data and assess the Federal Reserve’s monetary rate path.

The Labor Department reported on Wednesday initial jobless claims of 214,000 for the week ending Dec. 20. This was below expectations and a 10,000 decrease from the prior week. Separately, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that the U.S. economy grew by 4.3% in the first quarter — the country’s fastest pace of expansion in two years.

Jacob Pedersen, head of equity research at Sydbank, said he anticipated at least one interest rate cut from the Fed next year.

“That is probably not as much as investors are expecting right now,” Pedersen told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday.

“We’ll, of course, have a lot of tension regarding Fed independence moving further into 2026. The financial markets need an independent Fed and I think that will be quite visible depending on how things pan out,” he added.

— CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.