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Treasury yields dip ahead of the Fed's interest-rate decision

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U.S. Treasury yields were slightly lower Tuesday as the two-day Federal Reserve meeting kicked off.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury yield was down more than 4 basis points at 4.295%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last at 4.687%, down nearly 5 basis points.

Yields and prices have an inverted relationship. One basis point equals 0.01%.

The Federal Reserve's March meeting began Tuesday and will conclude Wednesday with a fresh interest rate decision, as well as guidance on the outlook for monetary policy and the economy.

Markets are widely expecting the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged, but uncertainty remains about the path ahead for them. This includes when the central bank may lower rates and how many times will it cut this year.

Traders have so far been pricing in the first rate cut for June, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, and were last pricing in an around 55% chance of this, slightly lower than earlier in the week.

This comes after recent inflation data raised concerns among investors that rates may remain elevated for longer than previously hoped for as it indicated that inflation appears sticky.

Fed officials have frequently said that their decision-making will be data-led, and that they are still looking for evidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward the 2% target range. On Tuesday, preliminary building permit figures and housing starts data for February are expected.

Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan on Tuesday hiked interest rates for the first time in 17 years and ended its yield curve control policy in a historic move.  

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the day when the Federal Reserve will hand down down its rate decision and conclude its policy meeting.

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