The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 4.93% on Friday, holding near a seven-week low. A wave of disappointing earnings from major technology companies triggered a broad sell-off in US tech stocks and reignited doubts about the durability of the AI-driven rally, pushing investors toward the relative safety of government bonds.
On the macro front, data released Thursday showed the US economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.4% in Q3, beating expectations, driven by solid consumer spending and AI-related investment. At the same time, the US PCE price index rose 0.5% in September, its largest monthly increase since March, bolstering expectations of another Federal Reserve rate hike later this year.
Although the Fed left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, futures markets continue to price in roughly a 72% probability of a December rate increase, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. For October as a whole, the US 10-year benchmark yield fell about 36 basis points.