consumer inflation report comes in lighter

U.S. Treasury yields slipped on Friday after January’s delayed consumer inflation report came in lighter than expected.

The 10-year Treasury yield slipped 3 basis points to 4.077%, while the 30-year Treasury bond yield shed 1 basis point to 4.717%. The 2-year Treasury note yield dipped 5 basis points to 3.416%.

One basis point equals 0.01%, and yields move inversely to prices.

The January consumer price index report showed that headline consumer prices rose 2.4% annually, which was less than expected. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected it to show a 2.5% increase on a yearly basis, and 0.3% on a monthly basis. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, came in line with expectations. The report was delayed by a few days due to the partial U.S. government shutdown last week.

Those figures would bring the CPI back to May 2025 levels  — a month after President Donald Trump first announced tariffs.

“This is an important one, because markets are still expecting further rate cuts under a new Fed Chair, but stronger data like the jobs report on Wednesday has led to a bit more doubt as to whether that’s still possible,” Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note on Friday.

“So another hawkish print today would further push in that direction, particularly given this quarter is already seeing a decent fiscal impulse from the Trump tax cuts,” they added.

— Jeff Cox contributed to this report