U.S. Treasury yields moved slightly higher on Thursday morning ahead of the release of weekly jobless claims data.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note ticked up about 2 basis points to 1.3% at 8:00 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond added 1 basis point to trade at 1.939%. Yields move inversely to prices and 1 basis point equals 0.01 percentage points.
The U.S. Department of Labor is due to release the number of jobless claims filed last week at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones are expecting the number of first-time filings to be 350,000 for the week ended July 17, down from the prior reading of 360,000.
Existing home sales data for the U.S. in June is due to come out at 10 a.m. ET.
Bond yields have been volatile in recent days, with the 10-year trading below 1.2% earlier this week before rising sharply on Thursday.
The 10-year yield is much higher than where it began the year but has surprised many investors by pulling back from its recent highs of around 1.75% in late March. The slump in yields has come even as inflation readings show prices rising and the Fed signaling that it may tighten monetary policy sooner than previously expected.
Auctions will be held on Thursday for $40 billion of 4-week bills, $35 billion of 8-week bills and $16 billion of 10-year Treasury inflation-protected securities.
— CNBC’s Pippa Stevens contributed to this market report.
