Treasuries Give Back Ground Following Tuesday's Rebound

(RTTNews) - Treasuries moved to the downside during trading on Thursday, giving back ground following the rebound seen during Tuesday's session.

Bond prices climbed well off their worst levels after an early slump but remained firmly in negative territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 3.7 basis points to 4.254 percent.

The early weakness among treasuries came after the Labor Department released a report showing a modest pullback by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended June 15th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dipped to 238,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 243,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to fall to 235,000 from the 242,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The upwardly revised number for the previous week marked the highest level since claims reached 248,000 in the week ended August 12, 2003.

"Initial claims fell less than we anticipated in the week ended June 15 and point toward a moderation in growth in nonfarm payrolls in June," said Ryan Sweet, Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

He added, "The risk of labor demand being too weak to prevent the unemployment rate from rising could give some support in cutting interest rates as an imbalance in the labor market is unlikely to be a significant factor in future inflation."

Meanwhile, a separate report released by the Commerce Department unexpectedly showed a steep drop in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of May.

The Commerce Department said housing starts plunged by 5.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.277 million in May after surging by 4.1 percent to a revised rate of 1.352 million in April.

Economists had expected housing starts to climb by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.370 million from the 1.360 million originally reported for the previous month.

The report also said building permits slumped by 3.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.386 million in May after tumbling by 3.0 percent to a rate of 1.440 million in April.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to increase by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.450 million.

Trading on Friday may be impacted by reaction to the latest U.S. economic data, including separate reports on existing home sales and leading economic indicators.