By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices rose slightly on Thursday, pushing yields down, poised to end the quarter’s rally on a positive note.
Later in the session, the Federal Reserve will conduct its last bond buyback under its easing program known as the second round of quantitative easing.
Yields on 10-year notes 10_YEAR +2.70% , which move inversely to prices, fell 3 basis points to 3.09%. A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.
Two-year yields 2_YEAR +5.15% declined 3 basis points to 0.45%.
In the last three sessions, 10-year prices fell, sending yields up by almost 24 basis points -- the biggest increase in that period since December.
“The market’s vicious retreat over the last couple of days is meeting a stall point,” said David Ader and Ian Lyngen, bond strategists at CRT Capital Group, in emailed comments.
For the month, 10-year yields are up from 3.05%, but down from 3.45% at the beginning of the second quarter.
Bonds held onto gains after a report showed more Americans are still filing jobless claims than economists expected. Read about jobless claims.
“Despite a series of one time items, jobless claims remain at uncomfortably elevated levels, especially so given how far we are into a recovery and expansion,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG.
