Treasuries See Further Downside After Yesterday's Sell-Off

(RTTNews) - Following the sell-off seen in the previous session, treasuries saw further downside during trading on Friday.

Bond prices fluctuated in morning trading but remained firmly negative throughout the afternoon. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 5.7 basis points to 3.123 percent.

The ten-year yield added to the 14.9 basis point spike seen on Thursday, once again ending the session at its highest closing level since November 2018.

The continued weakness among treasuries came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing stronger than expected job growth in the month of April.

The report showed non-farm payroll employment surged by 428,000 jobs in April, matching the revised jump seen in March.

Economists had expected employment to climb by 391,000 jobs compared to the addition of 431,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate came in unchanged at 3.6 percent versus expectations the rate would edge down to 3.5 percent.

With the report showing continued strength in the labor market, economists predicted the Federal Reserve will continue with its plans to raise interest rates relatively sharply over the coming months.

"Overall, with labor market conditions still this strong - including very rapid wage growth - we doubt that the Fed is going to abandon its hawkish plans because of the current bout of weakness in equities," Ashworth said.

After some key economic events this past week, inflation data is likely to attract attention next week, with trading potentially impacted by reports on consumer prices, producer prices and import and export prices.

Bond traders are also likely to keep an eye on the results of the Treasury Department's auctions of three-year and ten-year notes and thirty-year bonds.