• Bond traders welcomed their first clear sign of a cooling US labor market, but it’s only a part of what’s needed to fire up the truly sweeping rally they’ve been hoping for all year.
• US Treasuries surged Friday after a government report showed surprising softness in jobs and wage gains last month, adding to other recent evidence of slowing growth. The news crowned a late-week advance that started Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pushed back on the need to raise rates and signaled cuts were coming as soon as warranted by the data.
• Investors are now cautiously upping their bets for easing this year, and yields on Fed-sensitive two-year notes are leading market gains. And yet, for all the signs of deceleration in some areas of the US economy, inflation remains sticky — a reality that may limit what the central bank can do and means bond yields are likely stuck in their recent ranges.