Treasuries Show Modest Move To The Upside

(RTTNews) - Treasuries moved modestly higher during trading on Thursday, extending the upward move seen in the previous session.

Bond prices fluctuated early in the session but moved to the upside over the course of the morning. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped by 1.5 basis points to 1.589 percent.

The uptick by treasuries came after the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits were nearly unchanged in the week ended November 13th.

The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 268,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 269,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 260,000 from the 267,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the slight decrease and the revision to the previous week's number, jobless claims once again hit their lowest level since the week ended March 14, 2020.

A separate report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed a significant acceleration in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the month of November.

The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current activity jumped to 39.0 in November from 23.8 in October, with a positive reading indicating growth. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 24.0.

The Conference Board also released a report showing its index of leading U.S. economic indicators increased by slightly more than expected in the month of October.

The report said the leading economic index jumped by 0.9 percent in October after inching up by a revised 0.1 percent in September.

Economists had expected the index to climb by 0.8 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

"The U.S. LEI rose sharply in October suggesting the current economic expansion will continue into 2022 and may even gain some momentum in the final months of this year," said Ataman Ozyildirim, Senior Director of Economic Research at The Conference Board.

"Gains were widespread among the leading indicators, with only the average workweek and consumers' outlook making negative contributions," he added. "However, rising prices and supply chain bottlenecks pose challenges to growth and are not expected to dissipate until well into 2022."

Looking ahead, trading activity may be somewhat subdued on Friday amid a quiet day on the U.S. economic front.