US Treasury yields move higher ahead of nonfarm payrolls

U.S. government debt prices were lower on Friday morning, as investors awaited fresh data and followed developments on U.S.-China trade talks.

At 3:40 a.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note which moves inversely to price, was higher at around 2.5847 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 2.9114 percent.

On Thursday, China’s commerce ministry said the U.S. and Chinese would hold vice-ministerial level negotiations over trade in Beijing on Jan. 7-8. The two countries are trying to reach a breakthrough to resolve their differences over a 90-day tariffs truce.

On the data front, investors are waiting key data releases, with nonfarm payrolls out at 8.30 a.m. ET; and unemployment data out at the same time. Both figures are relevant to the Federal Reserve and its monetary policy direction. There will also be services PMI at 0945 a.m. ET.

Investors will also be keeping an eye on a speech by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell at 10:15 am ET. Powell will take part in “Federal Reserve Chairs: Joint Interview” panel on monetary policy and central banking at the American Economic Association and Allied Social Science Association annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Meanwhile, oil prices were slightly higher on Friday morning after Chinese authorities said they would be talking trade with the U.S. next week. Brent was up by 1.7 percent at $56.9 a barrel and WTI rose 1.9 to $47.98 a barrel.

Meanwhile, investors stateside are closely watching domestic political developments. The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that would end a partial government shutdown which has seen workers furloughed or working without pay. The funding package does not include money for President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, however, a key sticking point in the bid to end the shutdown.