2021.02.0319:26:00UTC+00Treasuries Extend Downward Trend On Upbeat Economic Data

Extending the downward trend seen over the past few sessions, treasuries moved lower during the trading day on Wednesday.

Bond prices came under pressure early in the day and remained firmly negative throughout the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2.6 basis points to 1.131 percent.

The weakness among treasuries came as a batch of upbeat U.S. economic data reduced the appeal of safe havens such as bonds.

Early in the day, payroll processor ADP released a report showing a much stronger than expected rebound in private sector employment in the month of January.

ADP said private sector employment jumped by 174,000 jobs in January after decreasing by a revised 78,000 jobs in December.

Economists had expected employment to rise by 49,000 jobs compared to the loss of 123,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed U.S. service sector activity unexpectedly grew at an accelerated rate in the month of January.

The ISM said its services PMI inched up to 58.7 in January from a revised 57.7 in December, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the service sector.

The uptick came as surprise to economists, who had expected the index to edge down to 56.8 from the 57.2 originally reported for the previous month.

With the unexpected monthly increase, the services PMI reached its highest level since hitting 58.8 in February of 2019.

Bond traders seemed to shrug off concerns the upbeat data could reduce the pressure on lawmakers to provide additional stimulus.

Reports on weekly jobless claims, labor productivity and factory orders may attract attention on Thursday, although trading activity may be somewhat subdued ahead of the closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.