(Adds analyst comment, updates market activity)
By Ross Kerber
BOSTON, April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury yields were little
changed on Thursday despite a record rise in jobless claims, as
investors struggled with the unprecedented data and tried to
gauge when the coronavirus pandemic's economic impact might
peak.
The benchmark 10-year yield was down 2.4 basis
points at 0.6111% in afternoon trading.
That was close to where it stood at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230
GMT), when the U.S. Labor Department reported the number of
Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits last week shot
to a record high for a second week in a row - topping 6
million.
More jurisdictions enforced stay-at-home measures to curb
the pandemic, which economists say has pushed the economy into
recession.
A closely watched portion of the U.S. Treasury yield curve
measuring the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury
notes was at 39 basis points, 1.5 basis points higher than
Wednesday's close.
Major Wall Street indexes were up on hopes of a truce
between major oil producers, also helping stabilize
yields.
Analysts contacted by Reuters said the subdued market
reaction suggested the jobless numbers were so wide they were
hard to fit into traditional models.
"The bad data is being priced in. We know that a large part
of the economy is shutting down, so maybe people just expected
an outlandish number," said Priya Misra, head of global rates
strategy at TD Securities in New York.
"Now the market is more focused on the length of time the
shutdown will last," she said.
The two-year U.S. Treasury yield was down 1.4
basis points at 0.2196% in afternoon trading. It reached as low
as 0.202% overnight, its lowest level since 2013.
The figure typically moves in step with interest rate
expectations. The Fed has already cut its target interest rate
range to nearly zero and most analysts do not see that changing
anytime soon in the face of the worsening pandemic, bringing the
yield down.
"Barring a big uptick in inflation, it's likely they will
stay there two years," said Guy LeBas, chief fixed income
strategist for Janney Montgomery Scott.
April 2 Thursday 2:17PM New York / 1817 GMT
Price
US T BONDS JUN0 181-29/32 0-25/32
10YR TNotes JUN0 138-252/256 0
Price Current Net
Yield % Change
(bps)
Three-month bills 0.095 0.0966 0.023
Six-month bills 0.1525 0.1547 0.021
Two-year note 100-79/256 0.2196 -0.014
Three-year note 100-172/256 0.271 -0.008
Five-year note 100-160/256 0.3735 0.005
Seven-year note 100-176/256 0.5247 -0.004
10-year note 108-128/256 0.6111 -0.024
30-year bond 118-128/256 1.2553 -0.034
DOLLAR SWAP SPREADS
Last (bps) Net
Change
(bps)
U.S. 2-year dollar swap 23.25 -0.50
spread
U.S. 3-year dollar swap 15.50 -0.25
spread
U.S. 5-year dollar swap 12.25 -0.50
spread
U.S. 10-year dollar swap 5.50 -1.00
spread
U.S. 30-year dollar swap -40.50 1.00
spread
(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston
Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Matthew Lewis)
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