Treasury yields mixed following Fed taper announcement

Treasury yields mixed following Fed taper announcement

U.S. Treasury yields were mixed on Thursday morning, as investors continued to digest the Federal Reserve's announcement that it will begin to taper its bond purchases. The yield on the benchmark fell by less than a basis point to 1.5735% at 4 a.m. ET. The yield on the rose by less than a basis point at 1.9958%. Yields move inversely to prices and 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%. The Fed announced Wednesday that it will its $120 billion monthly bond-buying program "later this month." The central bank is set to reduce its bond purchases by $15 billion per month, meaning its quantitative easing should end by the middle of 2022. However, Gurpreet Gill, macro strategist of global fixed income at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said on Wednesday that "surprises on the path of the pandemic, inflation, expectations for inflation, or wage growth could prompt a changed taper pace and impact the rate outlook." Gill noted that yields on short-dated U.S. bonds had risen less than those in other markets on hawkish central bank talk, but said this was because the Federal Open Market Committee had indicated its first interest rate hike would require fuller employment. "If inflation stays