Treasuries See Further Downside As Jobless Claims Pull Back More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - Treasuries came under notable pressure late in the previous session and saw further downside during trading on Thursday.

Bond prices regained ground after an early slump but remained in negative territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 2.8 basis points to 4.104 percent.

The ten-year yield added to the 5.0 basis point jump seen during yesterday's session, reaching its highest closing level in two weeks.

The weakness among treasuries came as traders continued to digest the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

While the Fed lowered interest rates by a quarter point as widely expected, officials' latest projections raised some concerns about the outlook for rates.

Fed officials' forecasts suggest two more rate cuts this year but just one next year, although there were significant differences of opinion about the outlook.

A report from the Labor Department showing a larger than expected pullback by jobless claims in the week ended September 13th also weighed on treasuries.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 231,000, a decrease of 33,000 from the previous week's revised level of 264,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to pull back to 240,000 from the 263,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Jobless claims decreased a week after hitting their highest level in almost four years, easing concerns about the labor market and reducing demand for safe havens like bonds.

Following several key economic events earlier in the week, the U.S. economic calendar for Friday is relatively quiet, potentially leading to light trading activity.