Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren said that weak bond yields in other countries are hurting U.S. long-term bond yields. Still, Rosengren expects Treasurys to eventually start inching higher.
Rosengren said long-term bond yields are falling in a number of countries. He cited as an example Germany's 10-year bond yield, which is close to zero. Slowing economic growth in Europe and Asia is contributing to those declines, he said.
"I think there's a lot less risk in the US economy than there is in the rest of the world, but those lower yields are in part pushing down yields in the United States as well," Rosengren said.
Rosengren added that if his forecast for America's economic growth of between 2 to 2.5 percent for the rest of the year pans out, and the U.S. starts to hit its inflation target, then the 10-year yield "will go up a little bit from where it is now."