10-, 30-year Treasury yields set four-week lows again after weekly jobless-claims data

By Vivien Lou Chen

Yields on long-dated U.S. government debt finished at their lowest levels in about a month on Thursday, after data showed a jump in weekly initial jobless-benefit claims.

What happened

The yield on the 2-year Treasury BX:TMUBMUSD02Y slipped 3.6 basis points to 4.805%, from 4.841% on Wednesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury BX:TMUBMUSD10Y fell 3.4 basis points to 4.448%, after factoring in new-issue levels. Thursday's level is the lowest since April 9, based on 3 p.m. Eastern time figures from Dow Jones Market Data.The yield on the 30-year Treasury BX:TMUBMUSD30Y declined 2.8 basis points to 4.604%, from 4.632% on Wednesday. Thursday's level is the lowest since April 12. On Tuesday, 10 - and 30-year yields also respectively reached their lowest levels since April 9 and April 12. They slipped again on Thursday, carving out fresh four-week lows.

What drove markets

Data released on Thursday showed that initial jobless-benefit claims rose by 22,000 to 231,000 for the week that ended May 4. That's above economists' forecast of a rise of 214,000 and the highest level in nine months. The report "will contribute to some anxiety that we're nearing an inflection point in the economic cycle, although it's notable that both initial and continuing claims remain solidly below the 2023 peaks and the prepandemic highs seen in 2019," said BMO Capital Markets strategist Vail Hartman.

Meanwhile, Thursday's $25 billion auction of 30-year bonds produced decent results, with non-dealer bidding coming in at an above-average 84.6%.

Overseas, the Bank of England voted 7-2 to hold interest rates at 5.25%, a decision that sent the 2-year gilt yield BX:TMBMKGB-02Y lower.

-Vivien Lou Chen

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-09-24 1618ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.