Treasuries Move To The Upside Ahead Of Jobs Report

(RTTNews) - Treasuries moved back to the upside over the course of the trading day on Thursday, more than offsetting the modest pullback seen in the previous session.

Bond prices moved steadily higher in morning trading before moving roughly sideways thereafter. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.5 basis points to 1.811 percent.

The strength among treasuries came as traders expressed some trepidation ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

The Labor Department report is expected to show an increase of about 158,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 4.9 percent.

The highly anticipated jobs data could have a significant impact on the outlook for whether the Federal Reserve raises interest rates later this month.

Payroll processor ADP released a report this morning showing that private sector employment increased roughly in line with economist estimates in the month of May.

The report said private sector employment rose by 173,000 jobs in May after climbing by an upwardly revised 166,000 jobs in April.

Economists had expected employment to increase by about 175,000 jobs compared to the addition of 156,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Analysts have noted the Labor Department data will reflect the impact of a recent strike by Verizon (VZ) workers, which did not affect the ADP data.

The monthly jobs report will be in the spotlight on Friday, likely overshadowing reports on trade, factory orders, and service sector activity.