The yield on US two-year Treasury bonds hit a 15-year high on Monday as investors rearranged their positions for an extended period of big interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve following Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday.
In the sharpest terms yet in the monetary tightening cycle, Powell said the US central bank will continue to raise interest rates in its effort to curb inflation even though those increases are causing pain for households and businesses.
Markets now expect regarding a 65 percent chance of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by 75 basis points at its September meeting, compared with regarding 57 percent on Friday when Powell spoke.
The yield on the two-year Treasury, which is more sensitive to interest rate expectations, rose to 3.489 percent, the highest level since late 2007 and eight basis points above its level at the close on Friday.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bonds also rose eight basis points to 3.13 percent, but it is still far from its highest level recorded in mid-June of 3.49 percent.
