U.S. government debt prices ticked lower on Thursday as equities were set to give back some of the massive gains notched in the previous session.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was lower at around 2.745 percent at 2:54 p.m. ET, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was lower at 3.005 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
Treasurys
Yields rose on Wednesday, following a massive rebound in equities and poor demand for a sale of $41 billion in U.S. five-year Treasurys that diminished the appeal of the securities, Reuters reported. The spread between the two-year and 10-year bond yield was also at its widest in three weeks on expectations that the Fed will pause rate hikes for 2019 on economic growth and U.S.-China trade war concerns.
The 10-year Treasury yield has been falling since hitting year-highs in October and November as stocks have come under pressure over economic and trade worries and investors increasingly turned to bonds and other low-risk assets.
On Wednesday, U.S. markets rallied, with the Dow scoring its biggest single-day point gain ever, marking a dramatic turnaround from the worst-ever Christmas Eve for stocks on Monday. Consumer shares rallied and crude gained nearly 10 percent, while White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett reassured investors that Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's job was "100 percent safe."
The last week saw compounded investor fears over headwinds coming from Washington, where a partial government shutdown continues and President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the Federal Reserve over its interest rate rises. Trump called the drop that sent stocks nearly 20 percent down from their 2018 highs a "tremendous opportunity to buy."
—CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this report.