2022.05.1919:06:00UTC+00Treasuries Pull Back Off Early Highs But Still Close Positive

Following the upturn seen over the course of the previous session, treasuries saw some further upside during trading on Thursday.

Bond prices gave back ground after seeing early strength but remained in positive territory. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.1 basis points to 2.855 percent.

Treasuries continued to benefit from their appeal as a safe haven amid concerns about the outlook for the global economy.

Traders remain worried that aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve could lead to a period of stagflation or an outright recession.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased in the week ended May 14th.

The report showed initial jobless claims rose to 218,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week's revised level of 197,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 200,000 from the 203,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Existing home sales showed a significant decrease in the month of April, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday.

NAR said existing home sales tumbled 2.4 percent to an annual rate of 5.61 million in April after plunging by 3.0 percent to a revised rate of 5.75 million in March. Economists had expected existing home sales to decrease by 0.7 percent.

With the bigger than expected slump, existing home sales dropped to their lowest annual rate since June of 2020.

A separate report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed a significant slowdown in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity.

Looking ahead, trading activity may be somewhat subdued on Friday amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.