U.S. Treasuries climb ahead of 30-year auction, initial jobless claims

The U.S. Treasuries climbed as investors look forward to the 30-year note auction, due to be held later in the day. Also, the country’s initial jobless for today claims and consumer price inflation, due on Friday will provide further direction to the debt market.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury slumped nearly 2 basis points to 2.39 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields fell 1 basis point to 3.03 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year note 1/2 basis point lower at 1.35 percent by 12:10GMT.

Initial jobless claims for the week ending April 29 fell a substantial 19k, to 238k, reversing a touch of weakness that had emerged last week. The number remained below consensus expectations (248k). After reaching a low point of 227K in early February, initial claims data have bounced between the low 230s and the low 260s. Within this range, we view the data as supportive of employment growth and indicative of relatively strong underlying activity.

Further, continuing claims remained below 2 million in the week ending April 22, falling modestly to 1.964mn. The insured unemployment rate remained at 1.4 percent, matching its lowest reading during the current recovery. The decline in initial claims was driven by larger than normal falls in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and Massachusetts. New York State alone experienced a decline in claims of 11k on the week.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures traded 0.24 percent lower at 2,389.50 by 12:20GMT, while at 12:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Dollar Strength Index remained highly bullish at 151.12 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex