U.S. government debt prices were higher Thursday morning as investors tried to gauge the likelihood of a sharp rebound ahead of a slew of economic data.
At around 4:55 a.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was lower at 0.6688% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was down at 1.3828%. Yields move inversely to prices.
However, yields increased on the shorter duration 2-year and 5-year notes.
New jobless claims figures for last week are expected at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data published last week showed that 36.5 million Americans had filed for unemployment since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis.
Analysts polled by Reuters are expecting 2.4 million new claims, down from 2.981 million the previous week.
Market focus is also attuned to the rate of new coronavirus infections. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were more than 100,000 newly reported coronavirus cases worldwide in the 24 hours leading up to its daily briefing on Wednesday evening, a record daily spike.
Of these, 45,251 were in the U.S., as states continue to gradually reopen their economies. Over 5 million cases have now been confirmed around the world.
Minutes published Wednesday from the last meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) showed policymakers had deliberated over how to support the economy long-term, on a road to recovery they now expect to be longer and more difficult than initially presumed.
Flash Markit PMI (purchasing managers’ index) readings for May are expected at 9:45 a.m. ET on Thursday, before April’s existing home sales data at 10 a.m. ET.
Auctions will be held Thursday for $80 billion of 4-week Treasury bills, $70 billion of 8-week bills and $12 billion of 10-year TIPS.