Treasuries Show Significant Rebound After Seeing Early Weakness

After extending a recent downward trend early in the session, treasuries showed a significant turnaround over the course of the trading day on Thursday.

Bond prices climbed well off their early lows and into positive territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell 2.9 basis points to 4.597 percent.

The rebound by treasuries likely reflected another attempt at bargain hunting following the failed efforts seen in the two previous sessions.

The ten-year yield turned lower on the day after reaching a high of 4.688 percent, its highest intraday level since October 2007.

Meanwhile, traders were also looking ahead to remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which are set to kick off just as the markets close.

Powell is scheduled host a town hall with educators in Washington, D.C. and nationwide via webcast, with the Fed chief set to respond to questions from the in-person audience and virtual participants from across the country.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department released a report this morning showing the pace of U.S. economic growth in the second quarter of 2023 was unrevised from the previous estimate.

The Commerce Department said real gross domestic product increased by 2.1 percent in the second quarter, unrevised from the estimate provided last month. The unrevised reading matched economist estimates.

The unrevised GDP growth in the second quarter still reflects a slight slowdown compared to the 2.2 percent growth in the first quarter.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed a slight increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended September 23rd.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims crept up to 204,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 202,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 215,000 from the 201,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Reaction to Powell’s remarks are likely to impact trading on Friday along with a report on personal income and spending that includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Fed.

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