US Treasury bond prices down on strong jobs data

US treasury bonds were down in price and yields were up on Friday on a sell-off that was based on much stronger jobs data than expected. Figures were released showing that 207,000 non-farm jobs were created in the US in July, well above the 180,000 that had been predicted.

The strong figures make a new interest rate hike more likely when the Federal Reserve meets next week. The rate is expected to be raised by 25 basis points to 3.5 percent.

The 2-year Treasury bond was up 6.7 basis points on the day and 8.8 basis points for the week to yield 4.111 percent on Friday morning, its highest yield in four years.

The 10-year bond was up 7.6 basis points on the day to a yield of 4.394 percent, a four-month high, and 30-year bonds were up 11 basis points on the week to yield4.583 percent, a three-month high.

The announcement earlier in the week of the resumption of auctions of 30-year bonds, probably in May 2006, had analysts saying that yields on longer-term bonds will probably be somewhat higher than they would normally be due to new supplies.

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