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Bonds cringe at jobless data
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March 4, 1999: 9:16 a.m. ET
Treasury prices ignore dollar surge, slipping anew on strong labor market
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. Treasury investors turned away from a stronger dollar to focus on signs of a tightening job market Thursday, driving bond prices lower on fears of an even tighter payroll report ahead.
By 9:00 a.m. ET, the price of the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond had sunk 6/32 of a point to 93-13/32, while the yield crept up to 5.71 percent.
According to the Labor Department, the number of U.S. citizens filing first-time unemployment claims in the week ending Feb. 27 shrank to 286,000 from a revised figure of 294,000 in the week previous.
Economists had expected the number to rise to 299,000 rather than fall, leading the jittery bond market to fear that Friday's release of payroll and hourly wage data would similarly defy expectations.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, the chief U.S. interest rate arbiter, is known to keep a close eye out for signs of wage inflation, forcing rate-sensitive bond investors to do likewise.
Dollar on the rise
Despite the claims data, traders noted that technical factors related to the dollar's advance against the yen had given the bond market sporadic early buying support.
The greenback surged nearly a yen and a half in overnight trading to 123.29 yen, its highest level in months, as euphoria over falling Japanese interest rates continued to encourage dollar buyers.
The euro also withdrew even further, touching yet another lifetime low of $1.0834 overnight before tentative bargain hunting took the edge off the European currency's losses. By mid-morning, the euro was trading at $1.0853.
Payrolls still spooking bonds
Back in the Treasury market, activity was ominously light, with nearly the whole of the market's attention now focused on the upcoming payroll report.
Economists predict the will show the U.S. labor market tightening at a flat rate, adding 245,000 jobs in February, while wages actually slow their increase slightly to 0.3 percent from last month's 0.5 percent figure.
The Labor Department will release the data at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday. 
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