US Treasury bond yields fell Thursday morning despite strong weekly jobless claims and booming monthly retail sales.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield fell about 10 basis points to 1.532% around 2:30 p.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year government bond fell 11 basis points to 2.14%. The returns move inversely to the prices. One basis point is equal to or 0.01%.
Retail sales skyrocketed in March when stimulus checks hit the bank accounts of millions of Americans. Retail sales rose 9.8% for the month, the trading division reported Thursday. This compares to the Dow Jones estimate of a 6.1% gain and a 2.7% decline in February.
A separate report showed that initial applications for unemployment insurance were falling. The Department of Labor reported 576,000 new jobless claims for the week ending April 10. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the government to add an additional 710,000 applications to be reported for the first time during the period that the week ended on April 10.
“It is clear that the sharp rise in bond yields so far this year has factored in the recovery and current cost pressures,” Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer of the Bleakley Advisory Group, told clients.
“I said earlier that if people realize that cost pressures are not so temporary for several decades, and then we will be in a 10-year yield range of 1.60 to 1.77% for the next few months we’re getting another leg at higher rates. This will also be a time when we’re closer to the Fed and talking about rejuvenation, “he added.
Auctions for $ 40 billion worth of 4-week bills and $ 40 billion worth of 8-week bills are scheduled to take place on Thursday.
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