2018.07.1915:23:00UTC+00Treasuries Turn Higher After Seeing Initial Weakness

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

Bond prices climbed well off their early lows and firmly into positive territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 2.8 basis points to 2.847 percent.

The higher close by treasuries came after CNBC aired an excerpt of an interview during which President Donald Trump said he is "not thrilled" with interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

"I'm not thrilled," Trump said in the interview set to air in full Friday morning. "Because we go up and every time you go up they want to raise rates again. I don't really - I am not happy about it."

At the same time, Trump noted he is letting the Fed do "what they feel is best," and a subsequent statement from the White House said the president respects the independence of the central bank.

Treasuries initially moved lower following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing initial jobless claims unexpectedly dropped to their lowest level in almost five decades in the week ended July 14th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 207,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000.

With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 202,000 in December of 1969.

A quiet day on the U.S. economic front may lead to light trading activity on Friday, although Trump's full interview on CNBC is likely to attract some attention.