Treasuries Move Modestly Higher After Early Volatility

(RTTNews) - Treasuries saw considerable volatility early in the session on Thursday but moved modestly higher over the course of the trading day.

Bond prices spent the afternoon hovering above the unchanged line. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by 1.8 basis points to 4.717 percent.

The ten-year yield added to the 6.7 basis point drop seen on Wednesday, pulling back further off its highest levels in over sixteen years.

The extended rebound by treasuries came as traders looked ahead to the release of the Labor Department's closely monthly jobs report on Friday.

Economists expect employment to increase by 170,000 jobs in September after climbing by 187,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 3.7 percent from 3.8 percent.

The jobs data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates, as the Federal Reserve has warned about the impact of tight labor market conditions.

Ahead of the monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report this morning showing a slight uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended September 30th.

The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 207,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 205,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 210,000 from the 204,000 originally reported for the previous week.