TREASURIES-Rise in Asia, eyes on U.S. data
TOKYO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries rose in Asia on Thursday, recovering some losses made overnight while investors await more data that could reinforce concerns about a U.S. economic slowdown. Treasuries fell on Wednesday in thin post-Christmas trade after relatively poor demand in an auction of 2-year notes and following a recovery in U.S. stocks to near-flat levels.
Bond investors will look to data on durable goods sales, weekly jobless claims and consumer confidence due later in the session, but markets are expected to remain thinly traded leading up to the year-end.
"The market is still under pressure which emerged after the liquidity injection measures by central banks eased concerns about a year-end credit squeeze," said Ryuji Shimai, a market analyst at Shinko Securities.
"But sentiment remains sour on credit, and safety bids on government bonds could easily return as soon as trading volume increases into the new year," Shimai said.
The benchmark 10-year bonds rose 4/32 in price to yield 4.265 percent US10YT=RR, down about 2 basis points from late U.S. trade on Wednesday when the yield rose as high as 4.296 percent, the highest since mid-November.
Two-year notes edged up 1.2/32 in price to yield 3.291 percent US2YT=RR, slipping 2.5 basis points.
Five-year notes climbed 4.2/32 in price to yield 3.692 percent US5YT=RR, down about 3 basis points ahead of an auction of $13 billion of Treasury notes for the same maturity later in the session.
Wednesday's two-year note auction results fell far short of recent readings, which some investors took as a sign of possible lacklustre demand for new five-year notes.
New orders for durable goods are expected to have risen by 2 percent in November after falling 0.2 percent in October, according to analysts polled by Reuters.
Analysts said a weak durable goods report could support bids on Treasuries, while the direction of stocks is also expected to play a role in how bonds trade. (Editing by Michael Watson)
