US Treasuries plunge as weekly jobless claims portray strong labour market

The US Treasuries continued to trade lower Thursday after data showed that the country’s weekly jobless claims continue to indicate a solid labour market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note increased 2 basis points to 1.519 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year note climbed 1 basis point to 0.698 percent by 15:50 GMT.

The US Initial jobless claims for the week ending 6 August decreased -1k to 266k, roughly in line with expectations for a 265k result, as compared to the revised 267k reading seen in the week prior (previous was 269k). Meanwhile, the insured unemployment rate held unchanged at 1.6 percent.

On Wednesday, The 23 billion dollars 10-year note auction came in at 1.503 percent (20.45 percent award at high) with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.43, indirect bidding of 72.2 percent and direct bidding of 7.6 percent.

In context, the 12-auction average for bid-to-cover is 2.60, for indirects is 62.7 percent and for directs is 11.4 percent. Moreover, investors now look ahead to a 30-year bond auction later in the session.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures traded 5 points higher at 2,178 by 12:50 GMT.