national debt

U.S. retail sales in March rose higher than economists expected, further weakening investor confidence in the Federal Reserve starting to cut interest rates this year. Most U.S. Treasury bond yields climbed to new highs since the beginning of the year, with the 2-year Treasury bond yield approaching 5%. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 10 basis points to 4.62%, the highest level since November 14 last year. Expectations for monetary policy have shifted toward the Federal Reserve starting to cut interest rates later, with officials saying rate cuts would require a higher degree of confidence that inflation is continuing to rise toward its 2% target. Traders no longer fully expect a rate cut before November, whereas at the start of the year markets were fully pricing in rate cuts starting in March.