economic stimulus

Treasury Yields Drift Lower Even After Strong Economic Data

NYSE

U.S. Treasury yields drifted lower on Thursday, despite strong weekly jobless claims and booming monthly retail sales data.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell about 8 basis points to 1.548% at around 4:00 p.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond dipped about 9 basis points to 2.37%. Yields move inversely to prices. One basis point is equal to or 0.01%.

Retail sales exploded in March as stimulus checks hit the bank accounts of millions of Americans. Retail sales rose 9.8% for the month, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That compared to the Dow Jones estimate of a 6.1% gain and a decline of 2.7% in February.

A separate report showed that first-time filings for unemployment insurance plunged, with the Labor Department reporting 576,000 new jobless claims for the week ended April 10. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the government to report that another 710,000 filed claims for the first time during the week ended April 10.

"It is apparent that the sharp rise year to date in bond yields have priced in the recovery and the current cost pressures," Chief Investment Officer of Bleakley Advisory Group Peter Boockvar told clients.

"I've said before we'll be in a 10 yr yield range of 1.60-1.77% for the next few months when people realize that multi decade cost pressures are not so transitory and then we'll get another leg higher in rates. That will also be a time where we'll be closer to the Fed talking about tapering," he added.

Stocks rose on Thursday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average topping the 34,000 level for the first time amid strong earnings results.

Auctions are due to be held Thursday for $40 billion of 4-week bills and $40 billion of 8-week bills.

Copyright CNBC
Contact Us