US Treasuries yields rose on Thursday to their highest levels in nearly two weeks as stronger data on overseas business activity reduced jitters about a year-end slowdown in the global economy, sparking a rally in stocks and paring safe-haven demand for bonds.
Media reports that a doctor with Ebola-like symptoms was being tested in New York City stoked a brief burst of bids for Treasuries in late trading, pushing yields down from session highs. Benchmark yields were on track to rise for a third straight session to above 2.25 percent, supported by data showing US continued jobless claims fell to 2.35 million in the week ended October 11, which was the lowest since December 2000. The ongoing decline in Americans receiving unemployment benefits signalled some of them might have returned to work and that the labour market is firming.
Thursday's other domestic data generally supported the view of a moderate US economic expansion, which would not warrant the Federal Reserve raising policy rates any sooner than mid-2015, analysts said. Earlier, private gauges on business activity in Europe and China showed modest improvement in early October. Against this economic backdrop, upbeat company results propelled Wall Street shares higher, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index gaining 1.3 percent by late afternoon.
While investor sentiment improved, some analysts said the market remained cautious. "There has been a relief of immediate stress rather than renewed optimism about global economic growth," said Jim Vogel, interest rate strategist at FTN Financial in Memphis. US benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were 15/32 lower in price to yield 2.284 percent, up 5.5 basis points from late on Wednesday.
The 10-year yield has risen some 40 basis points since dropping to a 16-month low of 1.865 percent last Wednesday. The 30-year Treasury bond traded 1-1/32 lower for a yield of 3.053 percent, up 5.0 basis points from Wednesday. The 30-year bond fell as much as 1-14/32 early on Thursday afternoon after a poor auction of $7 billion in 30-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities.
The second reopening of an existing 30-year TIPS issue brought a yield of 0.985 percent, the lowest in an auction since February 2013. But it was more than 2 basis points above what traders had expected. TIPS have fared poorly since September on anxiety about disinflation in the United States. Longer-term inflation expectations as measured by the yield gaps between TIPS and regular Treasuries declined to the lowest since 2011 last week before a mild recovery this week.
"This market has been depressed for the past couple of months. There's little need for inflation protection," said Anthony Valeri, fixed-income strategist at LPL Financial in San Diego. The US Treasury will sell $93 billion in fixed-rate debt and $15 billion in two-year floating-rate notes next week.
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