Treasury yields rose slightly on Thursday as traders digested the weekly jobs claims number which came in better than expected.
Treasurys
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, climbed slightly to around 1.655%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was flat at around 2.125%.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 202,000 for the week ended Feb. 1, the lowest reading since last April, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
Yields also got a boost earlier in the session after China announced it would halve tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. imports. China's Ministry of Finance said Thursday that U.S. goods with a tariff rate of 10% would be reduced to 5%, while products that have a tariff rate of 5% would fall to 2.5%.
The move, which is set to take effect from Feb. 14, was made in order to "advance the healthy and stable development" of trade between the world's two largest economies, according to a statement on the ministry's website.
It comes as Beijing continues to grapple with the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak, with many market participants concerned about the potential economic fallout.
China's National Health Commission on Thursday confirmed 28,018 cases of the pneumonia-like virus in the country, with 563 deaths.
Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported nearly 200 cases of the coronavirus in at least 23 countries outside of China. The WHO has declared the outbreak a global health emergency.
The U.S. Treasury is set to auction $50 billion in four-week bills and $45 billion in eight-week bills.