Treasury yields inch lower as investors weigh economic data

U.S. Treasury yields moved lower on Friday as investors digested this week's economic and consumer sentiment data.

The 10-year Treasury yield was 3 basis points lower at 4.33%. The 2-year yield was around 4 basis points lower at 3.87%. The 30-year note was lower by over 1 basis point, yielding at 5%.

One basis point is equal to 0.01% and yields move inversely to prices.

The University of Michigan's Survey of Consumers for July, released Friday morning, reflected overall sentiment rose 1.8% from June to 61.8, coming out exactly in line with the estimate and at the highest level since February. Consumers' inflation outlook at both the one- and five-year horizons dropped, falling to their lowest levels since February.

Additionally, new data showed an improvement in the previous month's housing starts and building permits. Starts in June totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.32 million, up 4.6% from May and a bit better than the 1.3 million estimate from Dow Jones, according to Commerce Department figures.

Investors were cheered by signs that the U.S. economy remains solid on Thursday, after jobless claims for the week ending July 12 decreased from the previous week, while retail sales data for June came in better than expected.

“Another month passes and it's another month where the US labor market shows repeated signs of resilience,” Marcus Jennings, fixed income strategist at Schroders, said in a note. “Job growth has been respectable – albeit far from robust – despite the uncertainty caused by President Trump's trade policy.”

“It's not just in payrolls, we see signs of stability on multiple fronts, and with corporate profitability remaining unchallenged, we do not expect a material rise in the unemployment rate,” Jennings added.