Treasuries Close Roughly Flat After Recovering From Early Pullback

(RTTNews) - Following the rebound seen in the previous session, treasuries moved back to the downside in early trading on Thursday but regained ground as the day progressed.

Bond prices climbed well off their early lows eventually ending the session roughly flat. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down less than a basis point to 4.249 percent after reaching a high of 4.277 percent.

The early pullback by treasuries may have reflected lingering concerns about foreign governments and investors selling U.S. assets even as President Donald Trump seemed to soften his stance on Greenland.

While Trump ruled out the use of military force to take control of Greenland and said the "framework" of a deal on the territory has been reached, some Europeans have purportedly still been selling their treasury holdings in protest against Trump's heavy-handed approach.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders digested the latest U.S. economic data, including typically closely watched readings on consumer price inflation.

The Commerce Department released a report on consumer prices in both October and November, showing prices increased in line with estimates.

The Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose by 0.2 percent in November, matching the growth seen in October along with economist estimates.

The annual rate of growth by the PCE price index ticked up to 2.8 percent in November from 2.7 percent in October, which was also in line with expectations.

Excluding food and energy prices, the core PCE price index still rose by 0.2 percent in November, matching the increases seen in October as well as economist estimates.

The annual rate of growth by the core PCE price index crept up to 2.8 percent in November from 2.7 percent in October, which was also in line with expectations.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed a slight uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended January 17th.

The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 200,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 199,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 205,000 from the 198,000 originally reported for the previous month.