Treasuries Pull Back Sharply Following Recent Strength

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

Bond prices came under pressure in early trading and saw some further downside as the day progressed. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 9.5 basis points to 2.301 percent.

With the sharp increase on the day, the ten-year yield bounced well off the one-month closing low set in the previous session.

The pullback by treasuries came amid a rally by U.S. stocks, which rebounded along with Chinese stocks following yesterday's sell-off.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surged up by 5.8 percent as authorities unveiled fresh support measures.

Traders also expressed some optimism about a deal between Greece and its creditors after the debt-laden nation promised to implement pension and tax reforms to win fresh aid.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told European parliament that he would submit a detailed reform plan later today.

Treasuries saw some further downside following the release of the results of the Treasury Department's auction of $13 billion worth of thirty-year bonds, which attracted below average demand.

The thirty-year bond auction drew a high yield of 3.084 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.23, while the ten previous thirty-year bond auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.38.

The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.

News regarding the Greek debt negotiations is likely to be in focus on Friday along with a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.