TREASURIES- Yields in narrow range despite jobs data

By Ross Kerber

April 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury trading showed little drama for a fifth consecutive day on Thursday despite healthy new employment data as investors awaited guidance from a Federal Reserve meeting next week.

The benchmark 10-year yield US10YT=RR was up less than a basis point in morning trading at 1.5697%, within the range between 1.528% and 1.633% it has held since last week.

Fewer Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, U.S. Labor Department data showed, suggesting layoffs were subsiding and strengthening expectations for another month of blockbuster job growth in April as a re-opening economy unleashes pent-up demand.

But the upbeat report had little impact on the overall Treasury market after it was released Thursday morning.

Jim Vogel, FHN Financial interest rate strategist, said the dynamic reflected investors' focus on trading specific maturities rather than making bets about trends across the whole yield curve while waiting for guidance from the Fed.

The U.S. central bank's Federal Open Market Committee will meet April 27-28, although it is not expected to make meaningful adjustments to policy.

"It's more dangerous to express macro views across the bond market, when each spot trades in its own place. It's not a unified market," Vogel said.

The European Central Bank left policy unchanged as expected on Thursday, keeping copious stimulus flowing even as it faces questions over how it might claw back support once the pandemic-stricken euro zone economy reopens.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday pledged to slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-52% from 2005 levels by 2030, a target it hopes will spur other big emitter countries to raise their ambition to combat climate change.

A closely watched part of the U.S. Treasury yield curve measuring the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes US2US10=RR, seen as an indicator of economic expectations, was at 141 basis points, about a basis point higher than its close on Wednesday.

The two-year US2YT=RR U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was up less than a basis point at 0.1533%

April 22 Thursday 9:11AM New York / 1311 GMT

Price

Current Yield %

Net Change (bps)

Three-month bills US3MT=RR

0.0225

0.0228

0.000

Six-month bills US6MT=RR

0.035

0.0355

-0.002

Two-year note US2YT=RR

99-242/256

0.1533

0.004

Three-year note US3YT=RR

100-36/256

0.3275

0.007

Five-year note US5YT=RR

99-176/256

0.8147

0.015

Seven-year note US7YT=RR

100-2/256

1.2488

0.011

10-year note US10YT=RR

95-248/256

1.5697

0.006

20-year bond US20YT=RR

95-176/256

2.1432

-0.006

30-year bond US30YT=RR

91-180/256

2.2589

-0.004

DOLLAR SWAP SPREADS

Last (bps)

Net Change (bps)

U.S. 2-year dollar swap spread

11.75

0.00

U.S. 3-year dollar swap spread

13.00

-0.25

U.S. 5-year dollar swap spread

8.75

0.00

U.S. 10-year dollar swap spread

-1.00

0.00

U.S. 30-year dollar swap spread

-27.00

0.00

(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; editing by Barbara Lewis)

((ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com; (617) 856 4341; Reuters Messaging: Ross.Kerber.Reuters.com@Reuters.net))

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