Treasuries Regain Ground Following Yesterday's Slump

(RTTNews) - Following the steep drop seen in the previous session, treasuries regained ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday.

Bond prices initially extended yesterday's slump but rebounded as the day progressed to close firmly in positive territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell 4.3 basis points to 4.553 percent.

The turnaround on the day likely reflected bargain hunting after the ten-year yield reached a three-month intraday high of 4.629 percent in early trading.

Treasuries moved sharply lower on Wednesday amid concerns about the fiscal impact of a Republican tax cut bill and a disappointing twenty-year bond auction.

The tax cut bill passed the GOP-controlled House in a largely party-line vote early this morning, but analysts warn it could add trillions to the federal government's already massive debt.

In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump called the bill "arguably the most significant piece of Legislation that will ever be signed in the History of our Country" and urged the Senate to send the bill to his desk as soon as possible.

On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the Labor Department unexpectedly showed a slight decline by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended May 17th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 227,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 229,000. The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 230,000.

Meanwhile, a separate report released by the National Association of Realtors showed existing home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly saw further downside in the month of April.

NAR said existing home sales fell by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.00 million in April after plunging by 5.9 percent to a rate of 4.02 million in March. Economists had expected existing home sales to jump by 2.0 percent to a rate of 4.10 million.