MW: Treasurys edge up after ADP shows big job losses
Treasury prices held onto a little support Wednesday after ADP Employment Services said private companies slashed 742,000 jobs in March, raising concerns that Friday's government job report will show an even bigger-than-expected drop in payrolls.
Ten-year note yields , which move in the opposite direction of prices, fell 1 basis point to 2.66%, following Tuesday's gains. A basis point is 0.01%.
Two-year note yields ) rose 1 basis point to 0.82%.
On Friday, the Labor Department is expected to say nonfarm payrolls dropped by 663,000 in March and the unemployment rate jumped to 8.5%.
"Expect the market to consolidate yesterday's late extension gains in what should be an ongoing choppy environment with two-way activity driven by equity gyrations" and policy announcements from the Group of 20 meeting in London, said John Spinello, Treasury strategist at Jefferies & Co., in emailed comments. See more on G20 meeting.
Treasurys are also supported as investors watch for how much the Federal Reserve buys in U.S. debt maturing in 2012 and 2013.
On Monday, the central bank bought $2.5 billion in bonds maturing in 17 to 30 years. That followed $15 billion in shorter-dated debt bought last week to kick off a plan to buy $300 billion in U.S. debt to force borrowing costs lower.
The range of securities the Fed is willing to buy excludes the most recently-issued 3-year note , which may lead the Fed to buy less than last week's two buybacks, said George Goncalves, chief Treasury and agency-debt strategist at Morgan Stanley. See previous story on Fed buybacks.
Treasurys shrugged off a report that manufacturing activity improved, though remained deep in negative territory. The Institute for Supply Management's index rose to 36.3 in March, from 35.8 the previous month. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected the index to read 36.
Readings under 50% indicate more firms say business is getting worse than say it's getting better
A separate report showed pending home sales rose 2.1% in February.
In the first quarter ended Tuesday, Treasurys of all maturities lost 1.43%, according to an index compiled by Merrill Lynch.