US Treasuries came under pressure across the curve on Thursday, following a round of solid economic data and indications that the Federal Reserve is willing to look past the slowdown in economic growth at the start of this year.
The 10-year yield was up 0.043 percentage point (4.3 basis points) at 2.363 per cent. Meanwhile, the policy-sensitive two-year yield ticked up 2.81 bps to 1.322 per cent.
Yields, which move in the opposite direction of prices, have been climbing for two days, after the Fed said on Wednesday that the weak first-quarter reading on gross domestic product was probably “transitory”, which heightened expectations for a June rate increase.
The bearish sentiment towards Treasuries accelerated further on Thursday, after data showed that the trade deficit had narrowed in March and jobless claims fell more than expected last week. The data come ahead of the all-important monthly jobs report from the labour department due on Friday.
Equities were little changed. The S&P 500 was flat at 2,388.1, the Dow Jones Industrial average ticked up slightly to 20,963.8, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1 per cent to 6,064.8.
In commodities, crude oil prices fell to the lowest levels since November. US standard West Texas Intermediate fell 2.2 per cent to $46.76 a barrel, while international benchmark Brent fell 2.1 per cent to $49.74 a barrel.
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