Treasuries Give Back Ground Amid Strength On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - After moving notably higher over the course of the previous session, treasuries gave back some ground during trading on Thursday.

Bond prices initially showed a lack of direction but slid more firmly into negative territory as the day progressed. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2 basis points to 2.847 percent.

The pullback by treasuries came amid a rally on Wall Street, with financial stocks leading the way higher after trending lower in recent sessions.

Selling pressure remained relatively subdued, however, as lingering trade concerns made traders reluctant to move out of the relatively safety of bonds.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing weaker than previously estimated economic growth in the first quarter.

The report said real gross domestic product increased by 2.0 percent in the first quarter compared to the previous estimate of 2.2 percent growth. Economists had expected the pace of GDP growth to be unrevised.

The weaker than previously estimated growth reflected downward revisions to private inventory investment, consumer spending, and exports.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed a bigger than expected increase in initial jobless claims in the week ended June 23rd.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 227,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 218,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000.

Meanwhile, the Treasury Department's auction of $30 billion worth of seven-year notes attracted average demand.

The seven-year note auction drew a high yield of 2.809 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.53, while the ten previous seven-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.51.

The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.

Economic data may attract attention on Friday, with traders likely to keep an eye on reports on personal income and spending, consumer sentiment, and Chicago-area business activity.