Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during the morning trading on November 07, 2024 in New York City.
U.S. Treasury yields were up on Thursday as investors looked ahead to January's nonfarm payrolls report.
The 10-year Treasury yield gained nearly 2 basis points to 4.438%, and the 2-year Treasury yield rose more than 2 basis points to 4.212%.
One basis point is equal to 0.01%, and yields and prices have an inverted relationship.
Investors are now looking ahead to the nonfarm payrolls report, which is due on Friday, and will provide clarity on how many people are employed in the U.S. Economists polled by Dow Jones project 169,000 jobs were added last month, and the unemployment rate is expected to have remained unchanged at 4.1%.
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The report will arrive just two days after ADP reported that private payrolls grew by 183,000 jobs in January, above the 150,000 gain predicted by economists polled by Dow Jones. It is also up from the 176,000 jobs created in December.
Also on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed that the Trump administration is "focused" on the 10-year Treasury and isn't going to call on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.
"The president wants lower rates," Bessent said in an interview on Fox Business. "He and I are focused on the 10-year Treasury and what is the yield of that."
Money Report
Investors' worries about tariffs have eased since Monday when U.S. President Donald Trump said he was slapping 25% tariffs on goods imported by Mexico and Canada, as well as a 10% levy on China.
However, Trump has since implemented a 30-day pause on tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, as both countries agreed to put in place measures to prevent the trafficking of the opioid fentanyl into the U.S.
Meanwhile, China has retaliated with its own duties of up to 15% on U.S. liquefied natural gas and select products, which will be put into effect by Feb. 10.
