At around 2:25 a.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was lower at 0.6741% and the yield on the 30-year bond was down at 1.4258%. Yields move inversely to prices.
Hopes of a quick economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic have been dampened by a surge in new cases across a number of states. California and Florida reported record daily spikes on Wednesday, while Houston said its intensive care unit is almost at capacity as the spread intensifies in Texas.
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have ordered visitors from hotspot states to quarantine for 14 days on arrival.
More than 2.38 million coronavirus cases have been reported in the U.S. with at least 121,979 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Investors are also reacting to International Monetary Fund’s downgrade of its global economic forecasts and a warning about soaring debt levels. The IMF on Wednesday forecast a contraction of 4.9% in global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, lower than the 3% fall it predicted in April. A growth rate of 5.4% is now expected in 2021, down from a forecast of 5.8% in April.
A slew of economic data is expected at 8:30 a.m. ET, led by last week’s jobless claims figures after the previous week saw 1.5 million Americans filed for unemployment.
The final first-quarter GDP growth figure is due at the same time, along with May’s durable goods orders, first-quarter GDP price index and corporate profit figures and first-quarter PCE (personal consumption expenditure) price index readings.
Auctions will be held Thursday for $50 billion of 4-week Treasury bills and $50 billion of 8-week bills, along with $41 billion of 7-year notes.