Treasuries Show Modest Move To The Downside

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session slightly lower, treasuries showed another modest move to the downside during trading on Thursday.

Bond prices climbed off the lows hit in mid-day trading but still ended the session in negative territory. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moved opposite of its price, rose by 1.9 basis points to 2.630 percent.

The modest weakness among treasuries came as traders kept an eye on Brexit developments, with members of parliament voting in favor of delaying Brexit after they rejected the idea of leaving the European Union without a deal.

Traders seemed to shrug off a Commerce Department report showing a substantial pullback in new home sales in the month of January.

The Commerce Department said new home sales plunged by 6.9 percent to an annual rate of 607,000 in January from a revised rate of 652,000 in December.

Economists had expected new home sales to edge down to a rate of 620,000 from the 621,000 originally reported for the previous month.

The Labor Department also released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits increased by more than expected in the week ended March 9th.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 229,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 223,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 225,000.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed U.S. import and export prices both rose by more than anticipated in the month of February.

The Labor Department said import prices climbed by 0.6 percent in February after inching up by a revised 0.1 percent in January.

Economists had expected import prices to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.5 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.

The report said export prices also increased by 0.6 percent in February after falling by a revised 0.5 percent in January.

Export prices had been expected to tick up by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.6 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.

Trading on Friday may be impacted by another batch of U.S. economic data, including reports on New York-area manufacturing activity, industrial production, and consumer sentiment.