US government debt prices were slightly higher on Thursday morning due to concern over rising coronavirus cases in the United States and tensions between the US and China dampened optimism stemming from of progress towards a vaccine.
At around 2 am ET, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was 0.6250% lower and the 30-year Treasury bond yield fell to 1.3212%. Yields move inversely to prices.
Yields had received a boost on Wednesday after biotech firm Moderna said its potential Covid-19 vaccine had produced a strong immune response in early-stage human trials.
However, coronavirus cases continue to rise in the US, and Texas reported a record daily increase in new cases on Wednesday, as infections across the country reach 3.5 million.
Meanwhile, relations between Washington and Beijing remain sour, as United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that the United States will impose visa restrictions on Chinese companies like the tech giant Huawei, which he accused of facilitating human rights violations.
The White House also said President Donald Trump has not ruled out imposing sanctions on Chinese officials as part of the Hong Kong Autonomy Law, the punitive measures signed Tuesday against China for its handling of Hong Kong.
Key economic data will be on investor radar on Thursday, with US retail sales figures for June at 8:30 a.m.ET, an indicator of the degree to which activity continued to recover as measures were lifted. closing. Last week’s unemployment claims numbers are also due at 8:30 am ET, and analysts expect 1.29 million new claims after 1.314 million better than expected the previous week.
The auctions will be held on Thursday for $ 35 billion each of the Treasury bills at 4 and 8 weeks.
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