Treasuries Extend Pullback Following Upbeat Retail Sales Data

(RTTNews) - Following the pullback seen in the previous session, treasuries saw further downside during trading on Thursday.

Bond prices regained some ground after coming under pressure in early trading but remained firmly negative. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2.7 basis points to 1.331 percent.

The continued weakness among treasuries came as the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing an unexpected rebound in U.S. retail sales in the month of August reduced the appeal of bonds.

The Commerce Department said retail sales climbed by 0.7 percent in August after plunging by a revised 1.8 percent in July.

The rebound surprised economists, who had expected retail sales to decrease by another 0.8 percent compared to the 1.1 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding a continued nosedive in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales surged up by 1.8 percent in August after tumbling by a revised 1.0 percent in July.

Economists had expected ex-auto sales to edge down by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.4 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, a separate report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rebounded by slightly more than expected in the week ended September 11th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 332,000, an increase of 20,000 from the previous week's revised level of 312,000.

Economists had expected initial jobless claims to rise to 328,000 from the 310,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The modest increase came after initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since March of 2020 in the previous week.

Trading on Friday may be impacted by reaction to the University of Michigan's preliminary report on consumer sentiment in the month of September.