Treasurys
U.S. sovereign bond prices pared their losses slightly Thursday after the Treasury Department saw solid demand at a 30-year bond auction.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose to 1.787 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was higher at 2.602 percent. The yields traded higher before the sale.
The Treasury sold $12 billion in 30-year bonds at a high yield of 2.596 percent. The bid-to-cover ratio, an indicator of demand, was 2.40, versus a recent average of 2.36.
Indirect bidders, which include major central banks, were awarded 65.1 percent, compared with a recent average of 58 percent. Direct bidders, which include domestic money managers, bought 10.8 percent, versus a recent average of 11 percent.
Investors also digested March inflation data and Federal Reserve speakers.
The Consumer Price Index gained 0.1 percent last month, below the expected 0.2 percent rise. Weekly jobless claims came in at 253,000, well below the consensus forecast of 270,000.
Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said Thursday he no longer expects to advocate for a U.S. interest rate hike in April, but added there is still time for two or three rate hikes this year.
Lockhart, speaking with Bloomberg Radio before a scheduled public appearance in Chicago, said he wants to see sustained economic growth, monthly jobs gains above 200,000, firmer inflation and continued anchored inflation expectations before raising rates. If there is no rebound this quarter from apparently weak first-quarter growth, he would advocate caution in interest rate policy, he said.
Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell also testified in front of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investments and the Subcommittee on Economic Policy. He defended against assertions that regulatory changes alone had reduced liquidity, according to Dow Jones.
— Reuters contributed to this report.