U.S. Treasuries trade lower ahead of Fed’s interest rate decision, initial jobless claims

The U.S. Treasuries traded lower during late European session Thursday ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) interest rate decision, scheduled to be unveiled today by 19:00GMT, with little hopes of any change in the federal funds rate.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasuries rose 1 basis point to 3.224 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields traded tad higher at 3.429 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year remained 1/2 basis point higher at 2.953 percent by 11:40GMT.

Taking their lead from hefty gains in Wall Street indices overnight on market relief that US midterm elections did not deliver any political surprises, the majority of European equity markets were firmer in early trade today.

Also, the US Treasuries remained under pressure on the view that, against a divided Congress, the US President may find it difficult to introduce new fiscal plans that could yield an even bigger budget deficit, Eurobank Economic Analysis & Financial Markets Research reported.

Lastly, with little prospect of an actual change in policy settings, investor interest will centre on the Fed’s accompanying short statement to see whether there is any sign that recent financial market developments might cause the Fed to refrain from tightening policy at the subsequent December meeting. Datawise, we will receive the latest weekly jobless claims figures, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures traded 0.44 percent lower at 2,804.50 by 11:45GMT, while at 11:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Dollar Strength Index remained neutral at -25.69 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex