Treasuries Regain Ground Following Recent Weakness

(RTTNews) - After moving notably lower over the past several sessions, treasuries regained some ground during trading on Thursday.

Bond prices moved steadily higher over the course of the morning and remained firmly positive throughout the afternoon. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 5.2 basis points to 3.835 percent.

With the pullback on the day, the ten-year yield gave back ground after ending the previous session at its highest closing level in well over a month.

The rebound by treasuries came as traders went bargain hunting following recent weakness, which reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

Buying interest may also have been generated in reaction to a Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by slightly more than expected in the week ended December 24th.

The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 225,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 216,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 222,000.

Overall trading activity remained below average, however, as many traders are still away from their desks due to the holidays.

With Friday marking the final trading day of 2022, activity may pick up somewhat but is likely to remain relatively subdued.