After closing nearly flat in each of the three previous sessions, treasuries saw modest weakness during trading on Thursday on the heels of some upbeat jobs data.
Bond prices moved to the upside in early trading but gave back some ground going into the close. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged up by 1.3 basis points to 1.711 percent.
The modest weakness among treasuries came on the heels of the release of a report from the Labor Department showing a bigger than expected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended April 20th.
The report showed that initial jobless claims fell to 339,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 355,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to show a more modest decrease, dipping to 350,000 from the 352,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital, said, "The better news on the [unemployment insurance] front points to a moderate bounce in April non-farm payrolls."
Treasuries climbed off their lows following the release of the results of the Treasury Department's auction of $29 billion worth of seven-year notes.
The seven-year note auction drew a high yield of 1.155 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.71, while the ten previous seven-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.66.
The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.
Today's seven-year note auction came after the Treasury sold $35 billion worth of two-year notes on Tuesday and $35 billion worth of five-year notes on Wednesday.
Economic data is likely to be in focus on Friday, with the Commerce Department scheduled to release its preliminary report on GDP in the first quarter. A report on April consumer sentiment may also attract some attention.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.