U.S. government debt prices fell on Thursday as President Donald Trump said the U.S. and China are "getting very close" to a "big deal."
Treasurys
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, popped about 12 basis points to 1.9133%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond also rose to around 2.3385%.
The U.S. and China have been in talks to finalize a so-called phase one trade deal since early October. The U.S. is scheduled to hike tariffs on approximately $156 billion in Chinese goods this Sunday.
U.S. negotiators had agreed on the terms of a deal ready for Trump to sign off, CNBC reported. The headline came as Trump held talks with top trade advisors at the White House on Thursday.
Data out Thursday from the Labor Department showed U.S. weekly jobless claims climbed to a more than two-year high. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits surged 49,000 to a seasonally adjusted 252,000 for the week ended Dec. 7, the highest reading since September 2017.
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady in a target range of 1.5%-1.75% on Wednesday, as many had expected, and indicated it would likely not make any policy changes through at least 2020.
The U.S. central bank's decision to keep borrowing costs unchanged was unanimous, following several dissents in recent meetings.
The U.S. Treasury is set to auction $40 billion in four-week bills, $35 billion in eight-week bills and $16 billion in 29-year and 11-month bonds on Thursday.