Treasury yields rose slightly on Thursday after economic data pointed to a continuing recovery.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained 1 basis point to around 0.793%. While the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond also rose a similar amount to 1.588%. Yields move inversely to prices.
U.S. GDP for the third quarter bounced back at a record pace of 33.1%, better than the 32% estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The rapid growth followed a 31.4% plunge in the second quarter.
“The record-shattering GDP numbers this morning, were a welcome light of good news in an otherwise dark week of Covid numbers spiking, Europe locking down again,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance.
Meanwhile, initial weekly U.S. jobless claims came in at 751,000 for the week ending Oct. 24, better than a Dow Jones estimate of 778,000. The total marked its lowest level since March at the depth of the coronavirus pandemic.
Traders are also monitoring rising cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. and abroad. Average daily Covid-19 cases in the U.S. set another all-time high on Wednesday, marking the fourth consecutive day the nation topped its prior day record.
Rising cases in Europe prompted German Chancellor Angela Merkel to implement a four-week shutdown of restaurants, bars and some other facilities and French President Emmanuel Macron imposed a new nationwide lockdown that goes into effect from Friday.
In addition, $30 billion worth of four-week bills go up for auction today, along with $35 billion of eight-week bills. Another $53 billion in seven-year notes is also up for auction.
