Treasury yields are little changed after data shows robust U.S. economy

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December leading economic indicators come in at -0.2%, pending home sales miss estimates in January

Squawk on the Street

Treasury yields were relatively unchanged on Thursday as investors reacted to better-than-expected economic data and looked ahead to a key inflation report.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell less than 1 basis point to 4.075%, as did the 30-year Treasury bond yield to 4.704%. The 2-year Treasury note yield was 1 basis point higher at 3.47%.

One basis point is equal to 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Initial jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 14 came in at 206,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That figure was below the 223,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones were estimating and 23,000 less than the prior week’s upwardly revised level, offering a positive sign for the labor market.

“We appear to be in a low hire, low fire environment which is unusual, but it also shows that the economy isn’t falling off a cliff,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management.

Additionally, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve manufacturing index recorded a reading of 16.3, reaching its highest level since September. That was also far above the Dow Jones forecast for 10.0.

Investors are now looking ahead to the personal consumption expenditures index on Friday, which is the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge.

Thursday’s data comes after the Fed’s FOMC minutes from Wednesday showed that central bankers were widely in favor of keeping interest rates unchanged in January, but they were more divided on what should happen next with monetary policy and whether to focus more on the labor market or inflation.

Deutsche Bank analysts said that solid economic data on Wednesday, including industrial production and housing starts, continued to push yields higher.

“The grind higher in rates was also supported by hawkish-leaning minutes of the January FOMC meeting,” they said in a note published Thursday. They explained that several policymakers supported “more two-sided language” on future rate moves, raising the possibility of rate hikes.

“While that’s still far from an active call to raise rates, it adds to the sense that most of the FOMC are in no rush to deliver further cuts,” the analysts added.