Treasury yields inched higher early on Thursday as investors awaited several key strands of economic data and weighed the latest developments in the U.S.-Iran war.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was higher by more than 2 basis points at 4.234%. The 30-year Treasury bond yield added more than 2 basis points to 4.878%. The 2-year Treasury note yield was higher by 3 basis points, reaching 3.666%.
One basis point is equal to 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Initial jobless claims for the week ended March 7 stood at 213,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That marked a decrease of 1,000 from the previous weekly period and just below the Dow Jones forecast for 215,000.
Investors are looking ahead to the latest reading of the personal consumption expenditures index — the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation — which is scheduled for release on Friday.
Thursday’s moves also follow a sticky February inflation report released on Wednesday. The consumer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.3% for the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.4%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Wednesday. Both numbers matched the Dow Jones consensus forecast, and remained above the Federal Reserve’s inflation target of 2% to reach price stability.
CPI printed in-line with consensus expectations for February, a ho-hum release that reflects the period before the escalation of military action in the Middle East that will lift inflation readings next month due to higher energy prices,” said Josh Jamner, senior investment strategy analyst at ClearBridge Investments.
The U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran began on Feb. 28, the last day of the month.
Oil prices rose again on Thursday after settling up more than 4% Wednesday. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz should continue as a “tool to pressure the enemy.” West Texas Intermediate futures
last advanced 9% to around $95 per barrel. Brent crude
last traded up 8% to $100 per barre
The rise in oil prices in the prior trading day came despite the International Energy Agency agreeing to release 400 million barrels of oil — the largest release in the organization’s history. The move higher signaled that investors anticipate the war may persist longer than anticipated.
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