Treasuries Move Modestly Higher Following Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - After coming under considerable selling pressure in the previous session, treasuries showed a modest move back to the upside during trading on Friday.

Bond prices showed a lack of direction early in the session before climbing a little more firmly into positive territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 1.2 basis points to 4.171 percent.

The modest rebound by treasuries came following the release of the Labor Department's closely watched report on employment in the month of December.

With the report showing employment increased by less than expected in December, the data has led to some optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment rose by 50,000 jobs in December after climbing by a downwardly revised 56,000 jobs in November.

Economists had expected employment to rise by 60,000 jobs compared to the addition of 64,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.4 percent in December from a revised 4.5 percent in November.

The unemployment rate was expected to slip to 4.5 percent from the 4.6 percent originally reported for the previous month.

While the Federal Reserve is still widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, the report may increase confidence in further rate cuts later this year.

Next week's trading may be impacted by reaction to the latest batch of U.S. economic data, with reports on consumer and producer price inflation likely to be in the spotlight.