Treasuries Move To The Upside Amid Pullback By Stocks

(RTTNews) - Treasuries moved notably higher during trading on Thursday, offsetting the weakness that was seen in the previous session.

Bond prices moved steadily higher throughout much of the session before closing firmly in positive territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 4.1 basis points to 2.985 percent.

With the decrease on the day, the ten-year yield gave back some ground after ending Tuesday's trading at its highest closing level in well over two years.

The rebound by treasuries came as the increase in yields seen in the previous session increased the appeal of government bonds.

Traders also seemed to be moving money into treasuries from stocks, which came under pressure in the first trading day of the year.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a slight slowdown in the pace of manufacturing growth in December.

The ISM said its purchasing managers index edged down to 57.0 in December from 57.3 in November, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the manufacturing sector. The modest decrease by the index matched economist estimates.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department released a report showing that initial jobless claims fell in line with economist estimates in the week ended December 28th.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 339,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 341,000. The figure from the previous week was upwardly revised from the 338,000 originally reported.

A separate report released by the Commerce Department showing that construction spending rose in line with economist estimates in the month of November.

Trading on Friday could be impacted by remarks from a number of Federal Reserve officials, including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.