MW: Treasury yields slip, with data, Spain in focus
Spain bank audit results, Eurogroup meeting in spotlight
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury yields declined Thursday as investors digested economic data from the U.S. and China while awaiting the results of an audit of Spain’s banking system.
Yields on benchmark 10-year notes 10_YEAR -1.63% , which move inversely to prices, fell 3 basis points to 1.637%.
A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Economic reports and the euro zone’s long-running debt crisis were in the spotlight.
In the U.S., data showed a slight decline in weekly jobless claims. More economic reports will be released this morning, including the Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey, leading indicators and existing-home sales.
Overseas, a survey showed that China’s manufacturing activity weakened further in June, while in Spain the government saw its borrowing costs surge at a bond auction. Two independent consulting firms have conducted an audit of Spain’s banks, and the results are set to be released Thursday. Also in the spotlight is an upcoming meeting of euro-zone finance ministers, known as the Eurogroup, in Luxembourg.
In other trading, yields on 30-year bonds 30_YEAR -0.84% fell 2 basis points to 2.723%, and yields on 2-year notes 2_YEAR -3.72% dropped 1 basis point to 0.311%.
On Wednesday, long-term Treasury prices gained after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would extend its holdings of long-term government bonds by $267 billion in another effort to bring down borrowing costs. Read more about the Fed’s action and statement .
Polya Lesova is MarketWatch's New York deputy bureau chief.
