MW: Treasury yields, dollar down after jobless claims
By Deborah Levine
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Treasury prices remained higher and the dollar pared a decline on Thursday after the Labor Department said 442,000 Americans filed first-time claims for unemployment benefits, down 14,000. Yields on 10-year notes (UST10Y 3.85, +0.17, +4.67%) , which move inversely to prices, slid 1 basis point to 3.85%, after touching the highest level since last summer on Wednesday. The euro turned up to buy $1.3348, from $1.3332 in North American trading late Wednesday. It hit fresh 10-month lows during the Asian session. The dollar index (DXY 81.70, -0.14, -0.17%) , which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, pared a decline to trade at 81.735, compared to 81.618 before the data and from 81.911 late Wednesday. Treasurys were higher in earlier trading, bouncing modestly after the biggest sell-off in months on Wednesday. The outlook is mixed for the government's 7-year auction (UST7YR 3.29, +0.18, +5.73%) later in the session, with some optimism that higher yields will lure buyers, while others fear that concerns about the growing debt burden in the U.S. may have been part of the reason behind the sell-off.
