Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

Bonds rally. US chipmaking independence looks a long way off. Focus turns to Chinese PMIs. Here’s what you need to know today.

There’s a melt up going on in bond prices as traders bolster bets on an abrupt end to the Federal Reserve’s tightening cycle, pricing in the first interest-rate cut by May. Yields on two-year Treasuries fell as much as 13 basis points on Wednesday. Swap contracts referencing Fed meeting dates repriced to levels consistent with the policy rate declining by a quarter percentage point from its current range of 5.25%-5.5%; a reduction was previously seen happening a month later in June.