NEW YORK: US Treasury debt prices climbed on Wednesday, with yields on the benchmark 10-year note slipping below 1.9 percent after a weaker-than-forecast jobs report bolstered arguments that the Federal Reserve may be slow to raise interest rates.
The 30-year Treasury, a maturity favored by many foreign investors, jumped and was last up 1-12/32 and yielding 2.4776 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Treasuries, an asset class which on Tuesday completed a fifth straight quarter of gains on a total returns basis, jumped early on Wednesday when the ADP National Employment Report showed private-sector job increases of 189,000 in March. Forecasters had expected a gain of 225,000 in the ADP report, which may signal softness in the US government's closely watched monthly jobs data due to be published on Friday.
"The market is bracing for the payrolls number on Friday," said Wilmer Stith, fixed income portfolio manager at Wilmington Trust in Baltimore.
"We got a little disappointing ADP number. Interest rates are lower worldwide, and all that's propelling Treasury prices higher."
The ADP data weighed on Wall Street, which often moves in the opposite direction of Treasuries.
Other economic reports on Wednesday, including mixed car sales last month and growth in the Institute for Supply Management's factory activity index touching a 22-month low, also spurred Treasuries buying.
"The focus of the market is more on the weakness of the growth in the first quarter, not so much on inflation and employment, though we are expecting another strong employment number," said Societe Generale's head of US rates strategy, Subadra Rajappa. Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note last stood at 1.8711 percent, reflecting a price rise of 18/32, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Earlier, the issue's yield dipped below a 1.86 percent resistance level to a session low of 1.852 percent.
In comparison, a 10-year German bund on Wednesday yielded as little as 0.152 percent amid continued bond buying by European central banks seeking to boost the euro zone's economy.
The five-year US note, a maturity especially sensitive to Fed policy shifts, was last up 7/32 and yielded 1.3296 percent, a level last touched on February 6.
Friday's jobs report will be especially important for gauging America's economic prospects since US economic data such as gross domestic product has been mixed in recent weeks, according to institutional investors.
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