By Akane Otani 

U.S. government-bond prices inched lower Wednesday as traders largely brushed off the latest blow to U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was recently at 2.727%, according to Tradeweb, compared with 2.710% Tuesday.

Yields, which rise as bond prices fall, advanced overnight with British government-bond yields as traders bet on Ms. May's defeat in Parliament paving the way toward a softer Brexit plan.

The plan Ms. May had forged with the European Union was overwhelmingly rejected in Parliament Tuesday -- an outcome that analysts had widely been predicting in the days leading up to the vote.

With the proposed deal off the table, some analysts believe Ms. May will have to make concessions to opposing lawmakers to move forward. That is easing investors' fears that the U.K. is heading toward a "no-deal" Brexit, one in which the country would leave the EU without any agreements about their future relationship.

"We stick to our call that the U.K. is headed to a soft Brexit," Bank of America Merrill Lynch rates and currencies analysts wrote in an email. "We do not pretend that the path toward our scenario is going to be a smooth one, but we think the impossibility of satisfying the PM's red lines with the reality of negotiations and the backstop are narrowing the range of options available."

Later Wednesday, investors will get a look at the Federal Reserve's beige book report, a collection of anecdotes from businesses around the country.

In previous months, companies have cited fallout from the U.S.'s and China's trade fight, as well as rising interest rates and labor costs. Wednesday's report will offer investors further insight into the extent to which those factors, among others, are weighing on business spending and confidence.

Write to Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 16, 2019 12:20 ET (17:20 GMT)

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