Treasuries Extend Upward Trend Amid Economic Worries

(RTTNews) - Treasuries moved higher during trading on Wednesday, extending the upward trend seen over the past several sessions.

Bond prices moved to the upside over the course of morning trading and managed to remain firmly positive. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 5 basis points to 3.287 percent.

The ten-year yield extended its losing streak to five sessions, falling to its lowest closing level in almost seven months.

Treasuries continued to benefit from their appeal as a safe haven amid concerns about the economic outlook following the release of some disappointing data.

Payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment increased by less than expected in the month of March.

ADP said private sector employment rose by 145,000 jobs in March after climbing by an upwardly revised 261,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected private sector employment to advance by 200,000 jobs compared to the addition of 242,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

"Our March payroll data is one of several signals that the economy is slowing," said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. "Employers are pulling back from a year of strong hiring and pay growth, after a three-month plateau, is inching down."

A separate report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed growth in U.S. service sector activity slowed by much more than expected in the month of March.

The ISM said its services PMI slid to 51.2 in March from 55.1 in February. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the sector, economists had expected the index to show a much more modest decrease to 54.5.

A report on weekly jobless claims may attract attention on Thursday, although trading activity may be somewhat subdued ahead of the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.