NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Treasury bonds fell Thursday, keeping yields near two-year highs, as a sinking stock market failed to draw buyers to government securities.
Analysts cited few new economic fundamentals behind the day's bond weakness. Rather, they say bearish sentiment for fixed-income securities more than anything else kept buyers sidelined.
"It's the same thing day in and day out," said Michael Boss, bond futures broker at IBJ Lanston Futures. "There's nothing really new."
Bonds have lost value or traded sideways nearly every day since Oct. 5, when the Federal Reserve left its main lending rate unchanged but signaled concern about rising inflation.
The trend continued Thursday, with the price of the benchmark 30-year bond falling 11/32 to 96-27/32. Its yield, which moves inversely to the price, rose to 6.36 percent form 6.33 percent Wednesday.
Bonds rose earlier in the session as a falling stock market drew investors to the relative safety of government securities. But the bond gains didn't last, even as stocks stayed lower.
Analysts said a $5 billion corporate bond deal by Ford Motor Credit Co., the finance arm of Ford Motor Co. (F), may have drawn buyers from Treasurys. Priced with a top yield of 7.40 percent, the Ford offering ties for sixth place in terms of largest corporate bond deals, according to Securities Data Company.
Further, a falling dollar and a slight rise in oil prices may have also weighed on bonds.
In economic news, the government said the number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose to a higher-than- expected 298,000 last week.
The figure, while above forecasts, is consistent with strong job growth and low unemployment that have prevailed for the last two years. Jobless claims rarely move the market, and Thursday was no exception.
Dollar weakens
The dollar Thursday gave up much of Wednesday's gains as a weakening U.S stock market crimped demand for the U.S. currency.
Just before 3:10 p.m. ET, the dollar slipped to 105.85 yen from 106.37 Wednesday, a 0.49 percent drop in the dollar's value. It cost $1.0820 to buy one euro, up from $1.0763 Wednesday, a 0.52 percent fall in the dollar's value.
The dollar's losses contrast to Wednesday, when the U.S. currency rose strongly as a strengthening U.S. stock market lured overseas investors into dollar-denominated securities.
The euro Thursday got some support after the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at 2.50 percent. Investors took the move as official confirmation that the region's economy is growing without appreciable inflation.
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