After moving sharply higher over the two previous sessions, treasuries gave back some ground during trading on Thursday.
Bond prices came under pressure in early trading and remained firmly negative throughout the day. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 8.3 basis points to 3.491 percent.
With the notable increase on the day, the ten-year yield rebounded after ending Wednesday’s trading at a nearly three-month closing low.
The pullback by treasuries came as traders cashed in on the recent strength ahead of Friday’s release of the Labor Department’s report on producer price inflation in November.
Economists expect producer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent in November after rising by 0.2 percent in October, while the annual rate of growth is expected to slow to 7.4 percent from 8.0 percent.
The University of Michigan is also due to release its preliminary report on consumer sentiment in the month of December on Friday. The report includes readings on inflation expectations that could impact the outlook for interest rates.
Traders will be looking for signs of a slowdown in inflation as well as reduction in inflation expectations amid concerns the Federal Reserve will be need to push the economy into a prolonged recession in order to bring inflation down close to its 2 percent target.
The Labor Department released a report this morning showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly higher in the week ended December 3rd.
The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 230,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 226,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 230,000 from the 225,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Source: Read Full Article