In the day just passed, a modest uptrend in yields was "defeated" from a technical standpoint.  Yields broke below a trend-line marking "higher lows" that began last Thursday afternoon and spent the rest of the day moving mostly sideways at stronger levels.  Stocks were weaker but that didn't necessarily have a bearing on bond market strength.  If there was cause for concern, it's that bonds didn't rally below the lows from August 16th (which in turn represented higher lows versus the previous day).

In the day ahead, bonds will likely continue feeling out a consolidative range heading into this afternoon's FOMC Minutes.  Keep in mind that the Minutes do not represent a new policy decision from the Fed, simply a more detailed account of the meeting that occurred 3 weeks ago.  The official statement from that meeting already came out on the 31st of July.  The Minutes are hit and miss as a market mover and typically only have a huge impact when Fed policy is in a state of flux.  It's hard to say if that's the case at the moment as they've done a pretty good job communicating a shift away from the rate hike cycle (with the clearest evidence being the fact that they CUT rates on July 31st).  

Simply put, the baseline for the Minutes would be a confirmation that the Fed is willing to continue cutting rates if conditions warrant it.

2019-8-21 open