Treasuries Give Back Ground Following Recent Strength

Treasuries showed a notable move to the downside during trading on Thursday, giving back ground after moving notably higher over the three previous sessions.

Bond prices came under pressure early in the session and remained firmly negative throughout the day. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 8.1 basis points to 4.352 percent.

With the increase on the day, the ten-year yield regained ground after ending Wednesday’s session at its lowest closing level in well over two months.

The pullback by treasuries came even though the Commerce Department released a report showing consumer price growth in the U.S. slowed in line with economist estimates in the month of October.

The report said the annual rate of consumer price growth decelerated to 3.0 percent in October from 3.4 percent in September. The slowdown matched expectations.

Core consumer price growth also slowed in line with estimates, slipping to 3.5 percent in October from 3.7 percent in September. Core consumer prices exclude food and energy prices.

The inflation readings, which are said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, were included in the Commerce Department’s report on personal income and spending during the month.

A separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended November 25th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims inched up to 218,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 211,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 220,000 from the 209,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Trading on Friday may be impacted by reaction to remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as well as a report on U.S. manufacturing activity.

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