Treasuries Give Back Ground After Recent Strength

(RTTNews) - After moving notably higher over the past few sessions, treasuries gave back some ground during the trading day on Thursday.

Bond prices moved lower early in the session and saw some further downside as the day progressed. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 3.4 basis points to 1.772 percent.

The pullback by treasuries came after a report from the Wall Street Journal said China's chief trade negotiator has invited his American counterparts to Beijing for a new round of face-to-face talks.

Citing people briefed on the matter, the WSJ said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He extended the invitation to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during a phone call late last week.

The report of the invitation for a new round of talks comes amid renewed uncertainty about the potential for the U.S. and China to finalize a phase one trade deal.

On Wednesday, a report from Reuters said completion of a phase one U.S.-China trade deal could slide into next year.

Trade experts and people briefed on the talks told Reuters a deal is still elusive and negotiations may be getting more complicated.

Reuters said the delay in signing the deal comes as China presses for more extensive tariff rollbacks, and the Trump administration counters with heightened demands of its own.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he has not made a trade deal with China yet because Beijing is not "stepping up to the level that I want."

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits came in unchanged in the week ended November 16th.

The report said initial jobless claims came in at 227,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 219,000 from the 225,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unchanged figure, jobless claims are hovering at their highest level since hitting 229,000 in the week ended June 22.

A separate report released by the National Association of Realtors showed existing home sales in the U.S. rebounded by more than expected in the month of October.

NAR said existing home sales jumped by 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 5.46 million in October after tumbling by 2.5 percent to a revised rate of 5.360 million in September.

Economists had expected existing home sales to surge up by 1.4 percent compared to the 2.2 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.

News on the trade front is likely to remain in focus on Friday, although a report on consumer sentiment in the month of November may also attract some attention.