Bond Market Update

Data Recon

• Initial jobless claims for the week ending March 28 fell by 9,000 to 202,000 (Briefing.com consensus 215,000) from last week's revised reading of 211,000 (from 210,000). Continuing claims increased by 25,000 to 1.841 million from last week's revised reading of 1.816 million (from 1.819 million).
  • The key takeaway from the report is that initial claims remain near the 200,000 mark, reflecting a low-firing environment.
• The trade deficit widened to $57.3 billion in February (Briefing.com consensus -$55.8 billion) from a revised $54.7 billion deficit (from -$54.5 billion) in January. The wider gap was the result of exports being $12.6 billion more than January exports and imports being $15.2 billion more than January imports.
  • The key takeaway from the report is that February imports grew more than exports even though February nonfuel import prices (+1.1%) increased at a slower pace than non-agricultural export prices (+1.7%).
• Yield Check:
  • 2-yr: +3 bps to 3.83%
  • 3-yr: +3 bps to 3.86%
  • 5-yr: +3 bps to 3.99%
  • 10-yr: +4 bps to 4.36%
  • 30-yr: +4 bps to 4.94%