Treasury yields tick higher after more signs of solid labor market

Treasury yields moved higher on Thursday on the heels of recent U.S. economic data signaling that the labor market is holding up.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury was more than 4 basis points higher at 4.436%. The 2-year yield gained more than 3 basis points to 3.923%, and the 30-year yield likewise ticked up more than 3 basis points to 4.986%.

Yields took a leg higher early Thursday after the latest jobless claims figures came in below estimates. Jobless claims for the week ending July 19 totaled a seasonally adjusted 217,000. That was less than the 4,000 from the week before and below the 227,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones had penciled in.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has scheduled a visit to the Fed on Thursday — the first time in almost 20 years a U.S. president has paid an official visit to the central bank — as he continues to pile pressure on Powell.

Trump has been vocal in his criticisms of the Fed chief, arguing that “he's done a bad job” and should have been cutting interest rates instead of holding them steady. The president has publicly put forward the idea of firing Powell, which has raised concerns among investors about the central bank's independence.

Trump's visit comes the day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there was “nothing that tells me that [Powell] should step down right now,” reassuring markets over the Fed chief's position. Trump also has backed off his threats to fire Powell, earlier this week noting that he will be “out pretty soon anyway.”

Elsewhere, attention is turned to trade negotiations between the U.S. and the EU.

Optimism that a trade deal between the two was looming rose when Washington signed a “massive Deal” with Japan, and Trump subsequently told dinner guests “we have Europe coming in tomorrow, and the next day.”