Longer-dated yields lower after data, on track for weekly decline

US longer-dated Treasury yields declined on Friday after mixed inflation data, with the benchmark 10-year yield falling 2.8 basis points to 4.541%, putting it on track for its first weekly drop after two consecutive weekly gains. Money markets now price only a 14.4% chance of a Fed rate hike in July, down from over 40% on Monday, while expectations for a hike at the September meeting stand at 57.1%. Hawkish comments from Fed officials including Chairman Kevin Warsh and Vice Chair Philip Jefferson, combined with surging oil prices (US crude up 4.74 percent to 82.69 dollars a barrel on geopolitical tensions) and escalating US-Iran hostilities, complicated the picture despite softer consumer and producer price readings.