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Bonds trade in tight range ahead of jobs report
By CNNMoney.com staff
On Thursday July 2, 2009, 7:04 am EDT
Buzz up! 0 Print.Bond prices were little changed Thursday as investors awaited a slew of economic reports at the end of the holiday week.

The Labor Department's employment report for June is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Employers are expected to have cut 365,000 jobs from payrolls after cutting a much smaller-than-expected 345,000 in the previous month.

The unemployment rate, generated by a separate report, is predicted to have risen to 9.6% from a 26-year high of 9.4% in May.

The government will also release its weekly initial claims report at 8:30 a.m. ET, measuring the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time. Economists expect a decline to 615,000, from 627,000 the previous week.

Also on Thursday, the Commerce Department will release the May factory orders report. Orders are expected to have risen 0.9% after climbing 0.7% in April.

All financial markets are closed Friday for the Independence Day weekend.

Bond prices: The benchmark 10-year note was down 2/32 to 96-17/32, and its yield remained steady at 3.55%. Bond prices and yields move in different directions.

The 30-year bond fell 1/32 to 98-19/32 and yielded 4.34%.

The 2-year note slipped less than 1/32 to 100-4/32 and its yield was 1.06%.

The 3-month bill was unchanged at 0.17%.

Lending rates: In an ongoing sign of improved credit conditions, bank-to-bank lending rates remained near record lows.

The three-month Libor held at 0.58%, according to Dow Jones.

The London Interbank Offered Rate -- or Libor -- is a daily average of rates that 16 different banks charge each other to lend money, and is used to calculate adjustable-rate mortgages. More than $350 trillion in assets are tied to Libor.

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