U.S. Treasury yields gained on Thursday morning after August’s retail sales rose unexpectedly.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 2.9 basis points to 1.333% at 12:11 p.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond added 1.2 basis points, advancing to 1.881%. Yields move inversely to prices and 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%.
The Census Bureau reported Thursday that August’s retail sales increased 0.7% for the month against the Dow Jones estimate of a decline of 0.8%.
A separate economic report showed that weekly jobless claims increased to 332,000 for the week ended Sept. 11, according to the Labor Department. The Dow Jones estimate was for 320,000.
The Federal Reserve is monitoring the recovery in the labor market to help decide when it will begin tapering its asset purchases.
Inflation is another economic indicator the Fed is using to determine its monetary policy timeline and data released Tuesday showed softer price growth in August. This saw yields move lower, as the cooler-than-expected inflation data eased expectations that the Fed would wind down its bond buying program imminently.
Auctions will be held on Thursday for $15 billion of 4-week bills and $30 billion of 8-week bills.
— CNBC’s Yun Li contributed to this market report.
