NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Treasury prices fell Thursday after a weekly job market reading came in better than expected, raising anticipation that April's payroll report will show another pickup in hiring.
At about 3:55 p.m. ET, the benchmark 10-year note fell 3/32 of a point to 95-10/32 to yield 4.6 percent, up from 4.59 percent late Wednesday. Earlier in the session, yields on the 10-year note briefly popped above 4.61 percent for the first time since July 2002.
The 30-year bond fell 6/32 to 100-even to yield 5.37 percent, up from 5.35 late Wednesday.
The two-year note shed 2/32 to 99-24/32 to yield 2.38 percent and the five-year note lost 1/32 to 97-12/32 to yield 3.71 percent.
"People are very scared of the employment number tomorrow," Andrew Brenner, head of fixed income at Investec U.S., told Reuters.
A second consecutive strong jobs number would reinforce the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates from a more than 40-year low of 1.0 percent in the near future, making Friday's jobs report a major milestone for a downtrodden bond market.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped by 25,000 to 315,000 in the week ended May 1, the Labor Department reported. That's down from the previous week's revised figure of 340,000, and below estimates for 335,000, according to Briefing.com. The figure is the lowest since October 28, 2000.
Following the jobless report, the dollar gained against the euro and the yen. Higher interest rates often attract investors with the lure of higher returns on some fixed-income securities, such as certificates of deposit.
The euro bought $1.2075, down from $1.2168 late Wednesday, and the dollar bought ¥109.75, up from ¥108.68 late yesterday.
--from staff and wire reports
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