U.S. government debt yields ticked higher on Thursday on hopes for trade talks between the U.S. and China and after the government said the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell for a second straight week.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 212,000 for the week ended Aug. 11, according to the U.S. Labor Department. The claims print is under scrutiny by Wall Street for signs that President Donald Trump's protectionist trade policies — and the resultant tit-for-tat trade war with China — could be a catalyst for more frequent layoffs.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was higher at around 2.87 percent at 4:56 p.m. ET, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was higher at 3.027 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
Treasurys
Concerns surrounding the future of Turkey's economy and the U.S.' trade ties with major economies continue to rattle investors.
Markets overseas were pointing in different directions Thursday after Beijing announced that it had accepted an invitation from Washington to partake in trade negotiations later this month, according to Reuters.
While China has said that it wouldn't consent to any unilateral actions concerning trade, it did welcome dialogue. The move comes after months of rising tensions that have seen each country impose tit-for-tat levies on one another.
The Turkish lira will also be in focus after it tumbled in recent days. Pressure has ramped up as market-watchers became jittery over the Turkish President Recep Erdogan's control of the economy and Donald Trump's announcement last week that he supported doubling metal tariffs on Ankara.