Treasury yields ended little-changed on Thursday after a blockbuster auction for freshly issued seven-year notes helped revive demand for U.S. government bonds in afternoon trading.
Yield moves
-- The yield on the 2-year Treasury note BX:TMUBMUSD02Y ended 0.1 basis point higher at 4.331%. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
-- The yield on the 10-year Treasury note BX:TMUBMUSD10Y declined 0.7 basis points to 4.577%.
-- The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond BX:TMUBMUSD30Y gained 0.1 basis point to 4.760%.
What drove the market
Investors were returning to action in the U.S. on Thursday after markets were closed Wednesday for the Christmas Day holiday and a shortened session on Tuesday.
But the last major U.S. debt auction of the year capped things off with a bang, as the latest sale of more than $44 billion in 7-year Treasury notes attracted strong demand, according to a summary of the results published by Exante Data.
Investors also digested some economic data earlier, including a weekly report on jobless claims. The report showed that while the number of Americans applying for first-time benefits had declined last week, the number of continuing applicants had risen to its highest level in years.
-Barbara Kollmeyer -Joseph Adinolfi
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