Econ Brief: >>>Basis Points By John M. Berry
Sunday , June 11, 2000 ; H02
It was a relatively quiet week on the bond front, with yields on 30-year Treasuries falling about 5 basis points and those at the short end rising by about the same amount.
This week most analysts expect new data to confirm that the economy is growing at least somewhat more slowly than it had been--in particular, retail sales are expected to show a small decline for May, the third relatively weak month in a row--while a report on consumer prices should be pretty benign. Given such news, more and more analysts say they think Federal Reserve policymakers will leave rates unchanged at their meeting late this month after raising their target for overnight rates by 50 basis points last month. If so, it wouldn't preclude increases later this year.
Tomorrow, Treasury will sell $8.5 billion in three-month bills and $7.5 billion in six-month bills, which yielded 5.97 percent and 6.27 percent, respectively, in when-issued trading Friday.
¸ 2000 The Washington Post Company<<<
washingtonpost.com |
