U.S. Treasury yields edged higher on Thursday morning, ahead of the release of weekly jobless claims data.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.586% at 4:30 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond climbed to 2.273%. Yields move inversely to prices.
The U.S. Department of Labor is due to publish the number of new weekly jobless claims filed last week at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are expecting a total of 425,000 Americans to have filed unemployment benefits in the week ended May 22. In the week prior, jobless claims reached a fresh pandemic-era low of 444,000.
Investors are watching jobs data closely, as the Federal Reserve has said it will wait for a fuller recovery in the labor market before it looks at tapering its asset purchases and raising interest rates.
John Plassard, deputy director at asset manager Mirabaud, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday that he believed if, and when, the central bank did decide to taper its asset purchases it would actually be a “real relief for the investor because the Fed will progressively normalize the monetary policy for good reason,” pointing to higher inflation, lower unemployment and “tremendous economic growth.”
In fact, Plassard argued that the “longer the Fed does nothing, the more likely it is to lose control of inflation altogether.”
He expected the Fed’s narrative on monetary policy to change ahead of its September meeting, “or even in August” at its annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole. However, Plassard believed it would not be a shock for the market.
“I believe that tapering is a good thing and I believe that we can live with higher rates and with lower assets to be bought by the Federal Reserve,” he said.
In terms of other data due out Thursday, durable goods orders for April are expected to come out at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the number of pending home sales last month is set to be released at 10 a.m. ET.
Auctions will be held Thursday for $40 billion of 4-week bills, $40 billion of 8-week bills and $62 billion of 7-year notes.
— CNBC’s Yun Li contributed to this market report.
