2019.12.1919:24:00UTC+00Treasuries Move Modestly Higher After Seeing Initial Weakness

After an initial move to the downside, treasuries moved modestly higher over the course of the trading session on Thursday.

Bond prices climbed well off their early lows and into positive territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by 1.6 basis points to 1.908 percent after hitting a one-month high of 1.947 percent.

The turnaround by treasuries came following the release of some disappointing U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing initial jobless claims pulled back by much less than expected in the week ended December 14th.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 234,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 252,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 225,000.

The smaller than expected pullback came after jobless claims reached their highest level since September of 2017 in the previous week.

A separate report from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve showed Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity was nearly flat in the month of December.

The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity tumbled to 0.3 in December from 10.4 in November, with zero serving as the demarcation point between contraction and expansion. Economists had expected the index to dip to 8.0.

With the much bigger than expected decrease, the Philly Fed Index slumped to its lowest reading in six months.

The National Association of Realtors also released a report showing a much bigger than expected pullback in U.S. existing home sales in the month of November.

NAR said existing home sales tumbled by 1.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.35 million in November after jumping by 1.5 percent to a revised 5.44 million in October.

Economists had expected existing home sales to dip by 0.4 percent to a rate of 5.44 million from the 5.46 million originally reported for the previous month.

Trading on Friday may be impacted by another batch of U.S. economic data, including a revised reading on third quarter GDP as well as reports on personal income and spending and consumer sentiment.