Treasury yields held steady on Thursday after data showed another 2.4 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Treasurys
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was slightly lower at 0.6688% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was down at 1.3828%. Yields move inversely to prices.
First-time filings for unemployment insurance totaled 2.44 million last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 2.4 million claims.
The total, while still well above anything the nation had seen in pre-coronavirus America, represents the seventh straight week of a declining pace following the record peak of 6.9 million in late March.
Market focus is also attuned to the rate of new coronavirus infections. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were more than 100,000 newly reported coronavirus cases worldwide in the 24 hours leading up to its daily briefing on Wednesday evening, a record daily spike.
Of these, 45,251 were in the U.S., as states continue to gradually reopen their economies. Over 5 million cases have now been confirmed around the world.
Minutes published Wednesday from the last meeting of the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) showed policymakers had deliberated over how to support the economy long-term, on a road to recovery they now expect to be longer and more difficult than initially presumed.
Flash Markit PMI (purchasing managers' index) readings for May are expected at 9:45 a.m. ET on Thursday, before April's existing home sales data at 10 a.m. ET.
Auctions will be held Thursday for $80 billion of 4-week Treasury bills, $70 billion of 8-week bills and $12 billion of 10-year TIPS.