On Friday, the Treasury yield curve inverted for the first time since the last financial crisis, triggering the first reliable market signal of an impending recession and rate-cutting cycle.

The gap between the 3-month and 10-year yields vanished as a surge of buying pushed the latter to a 14-month low of 2.416 percent. Inversion is considered a reliable harbinger of recession in the United States, within roughly the next 18 months.

Demand for government bonds gained momentum Wednesday, when U.S. central bank policymakers lowered both their growth projections and their interest-rate outlook. The majority of officials now envisage no hikes this year, down from a median call of two at their December meeting. Traders took that dovish shift as their cue to dig into positions for a Fed easing cycle, pricing in a cut by the end of 2020 and a one-in-two chance of a reduction later this year.