WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Treasuries showed a lack of direction early in the session on Thursday but moved to the downside over the course of the trading day.
Bond prices slid more firmly into negative territory after spending early trading bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2.6 basis points to 4.432 percent.
The weakness among treasuries may have reflected lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates after the Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell to their lowest level in over six months last week.
The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 213,000 in the week ended November 16th, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 219,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000 from the 217,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the unexpected dip, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 209,000 in the week ended April 27th.
During remarks on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman noted she is more concerned about the risks to inflation than the labor market.
While another quarter point rate cut by the Federal Reserve next month was widely expected earlier this month, CME Group's FedWatch Tool suggests the chances of a rate cut have decreased dramatically.
The FedWatch Tool currently still indicates a 56.1 percent chance of a quarter point rate cut but a 43.9 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged.
Trading activity on Friday may be somewhat subdued amid a relatively quiet day in terms of U.S. economic news.
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