Treasury prices are unchanged to slightly lower ahead of today’s 10-year auction. The Treasury department is scheduled to sell a record $26 billion of new 10-year notes this afternoon, eclipsing the previous mark of $25 billion in 2009. The increased issuance coincides with a widening federal budget deficit in the wake of tax cuts and increased federal spending from earlier this year. The White House unveiled the second round of Chinese tariffs last night, which will go into effect on August 23. There will be 25% tariffs on another $16 billion of Chinese goods (follows 25% tariffs on $34 billion of goods already implemented). While this was widely expected to happen, the announcement still weighed on sentiment in Chinese equities markets (Shanghai Comp -1.27%). There are no major events on the economic calendar today from a data perspective, but Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin (FOMC voter in 2018) is speaking this morning in Virginia.
Blog