TOKYO: US Treasuries were flat in Asia on Friday, stabilising after having dipped a little the previous day as solid jobless claims data brightened the US economic outlook further.
The 10-year notes yield stood at 2.035 percent , little changed from late US levels. It rose as high as 2.0682 percent on Thursday after the initial claims data.
The jobless claims dropped 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 332,000 last week, despite economists' consensus forecast of a rise to 350,000. The closely-watched four-week moving average fell to a five-year low.
Still, traders say losses in Treasuries were limited, even with Wall Street shares at record levels, as the Fed's massive bond buying leaves investors chasing fewer bonds available in the market.
"I think a lot of people have short positions given optimism on the US economy but they are not working very well," said at trader at a Japanese bank.
Traders say 10-year cash notes will attract investor demand above two percent in yield while the 10-year notes futures has a strong support at 130. The futures last stood at 130-15/32, almost flat on day.
The near-term focus is a raft of US economic data due later in the day, including consumer prices at 1230 GMT, industrial output at 1315 GMT and consumer sentiment at 1355 GMT.
Economists see annual consumer price inflation rising to 1.9 percent in February from 1.6 percent. They also expect a slight improvement in both output and consumer prices from the previous month.
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