Yields rise in light trading, jobs data in focus

02 Apr, 2018

The US economy added the biggest number of jobs in more than 1-1/2 years in February, at 313,000 jobs, though economists anticipate March's gains may be more modest.

"We've looked at the 14 occasions where payrolls were up over 250,000 in a given month and when you look at the following month there's almost an immediate return to trend," said Thomas Simons, a money market economist at Jefferies in New York.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is also due to speak on Friday on the economic outlook at an event in Chicago.

"There's not a lot going on that really affects the market until we get payrolls on Friday, I expect we will be in a relatively low vol environment for the first four days of the week," Simons said.

Many Asian and European markets were also closed on Monday for the Easter holiday, subduing trading volumes.

Benchmark 10-year notes were last down 8/32 in price to yield 2.772 percent, up from 2.744 percent on Friday.

Manufacturing and construction spending data on Monday will be a focus though it is not expected to largely impact the market.

Investors are also watching corporate debt issuance, which could weigh on bonds this week.

 

Copyright Reuters, 2018

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