Bonds mixed on Fed
Treasuries lose ground after central bank policymakers leave door open for more rate hikes; dollar sinks.
By Grace Wong, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Bonds were mixed Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised its key short-term interest rate again but offered no clear sign of when it may be ready to pause its rate-boosting campaign.

The dollar fell to a one-year low against the euro and was weaker against the yen.

Eyes on the Fed
Another rate hike is all but certain. What happens next is unclear, to the markets and maybe to the Fed. (more)
The end of the Fed's interest rate-hiking campaign may not be so good for stocks, despite investors' bets. (more)
Recent report shows the central bank chairman, committed to more openness, needs to choose his words more carefully. (more)

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note edged higher one tick to 95-8/32 to yield 5.13 percent, little changed from late Tuesday. Just before the Fed released its policy statement, the 10-year had gained 8/32 to yield 5.09 percent.

The 30-year bond gained 6/32 to 89-20/32, yielding 5.19 percent, relatively unchanged from the previous session. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The five-year note held steady to yield 5.02 percent, and the two-year note edged lower 1/32, yielding 4.98 percent.

Central bank policymakers raised the target for the Fed's key short-term interest rate to 5 percent, as expected. It was the 16th straight hike since June 2004. (Full story.)

In the accompanying policy statement, the Fed left the door open for more increases but said future raises would depend on economic data. (Click here for the full statement.)

Treasuries, which had been higher earlier in the session, turned lower after the Fed's announcement. Stocks weakened on the statement but ended the day mixed.

The statement was slightly more hawkish than investors had been expecting, but leaves the Fed with a lot of flexibility, according to John Herrmann, director of economic commentary at Cantor Fitzgerald.

"The Fed is trying to regain its inflation-fighting credibility, but is leaving very much unspecified and not committing itself to a hike in June," he said.

The Fed said economic growth, while strong so far this year, is likely to cool off as the housing sector slows and as the economy begins to feel the impact of interest rate hikes and high energy prices.

Interest rate futures rose following the Fed announcement, raising the possibility of another Fed rate hike in June to 40 percent from 34 percent, according to Herrmann.

In currency trading, the dollar rallied briefly against the euro and the yen after the Fed meeting, but the rally quickly ran out of steam.

The euro bought $1.2809, up from $1.2752 late Tuesday. The dollar traded at ¥110.19, down from ¥111.12 in the previous session.

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.