Treasury yields slightly lower ahead of Fed speeches, inflation data

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Traders and financial professionals work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell, October 25, 2018 in New York City. 

At last week’s Fed meeting, the bank left rates unchanged as expected, but said it sees “further gradual increases” ahead, sticking to its guns on policy. President Donald Trump has criticized the Fed for raising rates, going as far as to call the institution “crazy” for doing so.

Traders will likely monitor upcoming inflation data on Wednesday. Consumer Price Index (CPI) and core CPI inflation figures are due today at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Two big Fed speeches are expected on Tuesday. At 5 p.m. ET, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will be speaking on global economic issues in Texas.

Meanwhile, in international debt markets, Italian bond yields jumped after the government resubmitted its draft budget to the European Commission. Rome stuck to its 2019 deficit target of 2.4 percent of annual economic output, a move which is likely to set the stage for a standoff with Brussels. The news send Italy’s 10-year bond yield to a three-week high.