U.S. government debt prices were slightly lower Monday morning as investors reacted to comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell following last week’s market losses.

U.S. government debt prices were lower Monday morning as investors reacted to comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell following last week’s market losses.At around 3 a.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was up at 0.6452% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond had risen to 1.3509%. Yields move inversely to prices.
Powell told “60 Minutes” in an interview aired Sunday night that the U.S. economy could shrink by more than 30% in the second quarter as the full impact of nationwide lockdowns forced by the coronavirus pandemic is realized, but will likely rebound robustly and avoid a long-term depression.
Meanwhile, ties between Washington and Beijing continued to fray on Sunday. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned China not to interfere with the work of American journalists in Hong Kong, suggesting that it could affect the U.S. assessment of the special administrative region’s status.
China’s commerce ministry on Sunday voiced its opposition to the latest U.S. rules imposed on tech giant Huawei and said it could take any necessary action to safeguard Chinese firms’ rights and interests.
There is no major U.S. economic data due Monday.
Auctions will be held Monday for $63 billion of 13-week Treasury bills and $54 billion of 26-week bills.