By Joseph Adinolfi, MarketWatch

10-year yield on track for longest winning streak since June

Treasury yields were falling on Thursday for the fifth straight session after government data showed an unexpected rise in first-time jobless claims.

Investors are now turning their attention to a looming vote on the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare in the House of Representatives. The latest tallies suggest it doesn't have the support necessary to pass, and that, even if it did, it would be "dead-on-arrival in the Senate," said Ian Lyngen and Aaron Kohli, fixed-income strategists at BMO Capital Markets.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell 1.7 basis point to 2.391%, while the yield on the two-year Treasury note fell 1.6 basis point to 1.236%. The yield on the 30-year bond shed 1.4 basis point to 3.005%. Bond yields fall as prices rise.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits climbed 15,000 to 258,000 between March 12 and March 18, which was higher than economists had expected. The government also released updated data going back five years that incorporate revised seasonal-adjustment figures. These showed that layoffs, while still extremely low, were somewhat higher than reported (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-climb-15000-to-258000-2017-03-23).

If yields finish the day at these levels, it would mark the longest winning streak for the 10-year Treasury price since June 13.

Investors will also watch an auction of $11 billion in 10-year inflation-protected bonds. Inflation expectations shot higher after President Donald Trump's Nov. 8 election, but they've retreated since the beginning of the year as his agenda has been stymied in Congress.

Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen, speaking at a Fed research conference on community development, discussed the importance of early intervention in preparing young people for the labor market (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yellen-must-start-early-to-help-workers-achieve-success-2017-03-23). She said there is "considerable evidence" showing that people who grow up in poverty suffer economic disadvantages throughout life.

Treasury yields shot higher after Trump prevailed in the Nov. 8 U.S. election, partly due to the expectation that, with a Republican majority in both chambers of Congress, he would be able to swiftly enact promised fiscal measures like corporate-tax cuts, increased infrastructure spending and deregulation.

But yields have since headed lower as this initial optimism has faded.

"The market has been expecting the Republicans to fall in line behind Trump and for The Donald to behave as a more typical GOP president. That clearly hasn't happened," Lyngen and Kohli said in a research note published Wednesday.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 23, 2017 09:56 ET (13:56 GMT)