NEW YORK: US Treasuries prices were mostly flat on Thursday as traders awaited Friday's closely watched US jobs report for hints on when the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates from current rock-bottom levels.
Trading was muted in anticipation of the February employment report, which economists polled by Reuters expect will show nonfarm payrolls rose by 240,000. That would be down from January's 257,000 increase.
Analysts said a significant improvement in the unemployment rate or wage growth could increase expectations that the Fed will hike rates sooner than expected, which in turn could cause Treasury yields to spike higher. Yields move inversely to prices. The Fed's next policy meeting is March 17-18.
Economists polled by Reuters expect a 0.2 percent gain in average hourly earnings in February and a drop in the unemployment rate to 5.6 percent from 5.7 percent the previous month.
"If you get a 0.3 percent gain in average hourly earnings and the unemployment rate fell to 5.6 percent and you get solid job growth of 240,000 or so, that's hinting that the Fed's going to have to tighten," said Stan Shipley, bond strategist at Evercore ISI in New York.
Short- and medium-dated Treasuries prices rose slightly after traders who had bet against, or "shorted", those notes repurchased them to balance out positions ahead of the jobs data, analysts said.
"People are taking positions off, and the positions have been leaning towards being bearish positions," said Charles Comiskey, head of Treasuries trading at Bank of Nova Scotia in New York.
The Barclays US Treasury index has fallen about 0.5 percent so far this week through Wednesday.
Comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on the central bank's bond-buying program and higher-than-expected US weekly jobless claims data boosted Treasuries prices earlier in the session, but analysts said the impact of those factors faded as traders shifted focus to Friday's jobs report.
US 30-year Treasury prices were last down 2/32 in price to yield 2.72 percent, roughly unchanged from the yield late on Wednesday. Benchmark 10-year prices were last up 1/32 to yield 2.12 percent, also roughly unchanged from late Wednesday's yield.
US five-year notes were last up 3/32 in price to yield 1.57 percent, from a yield of 1.6 percent late Wednesday.
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