The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note inched down to the 4.17%, not far from the highest level in four months but firmly below session highs after the latest price data maintained the outlook that the Federal Reserve would have room to cut rates this year. The core inflation rate unexpectedly refrained from increasing in December, while headline inflation stayed at 2.7% as expected. Still, higher figures for core services supported the argument of more hawkish members of the FOMC, who voice concerns of stubborn inflation against evidence that the labor market has refrained from deteriorating since steading in its low-hiring and low-firing trend. Rate futures reflected a split market between two or three rate cuts by the Fed this year, more than projected by FOMC members. Still, the DoJ’s attack on Fed Chairman Powell, connected to higher rates by the Fed, and uncertainty on the makeup of the FOMC following the end of the Chairman’s term maintained the steeper Treasury curve.