WASHINGTON -- Following two days of heavy losses, Treasury note and bond prices stabilized yesterday, while bills continued to slip. Late yesterday, the long bond was quoted down just two ticks at a price of 93 8/32, holding the yield at 8.10%. The 10-year note lost 1/32 at 95 32, yield-- ing 7.95%.
Meanwhile, yields on both three- and six-month bills gained two basis points to 5.25% and 5.79%, respectively, following similar gains during the last few days.
Prices on the long end held yesterday despite the Commerce Department's report that new single-family home sales grew unexpectedly by 2.6% to an annual rate of 703,000 units -- a six-month high.
The report prompted Federal Reserve governor Susan Phillips to say the housing market remains "resilient" and surprisingly strong.
Analysts said trading was light yesterday as the market braced for this morning's release of the October employment report.
"It wasn't a day to get overly active," said Alan Gayle, director of short-term investments at Capitoline Investment Services, "The strategy today was clear the decks."
Despite a strong bearish bias, the market could easily head in either direction today depending on the employment report, Gayle said.
Analysts on average anticipate about a 245,000 gain in nonfarm payroll employment in October, according to MMS International.
-- Dean PattersonTreasury Market Yields Previous Previous Thursday Week Month 3-Month Bill 5.22 5.09 5.076-Month Bill 5.76 5.68 5.591-Year Bill 6.25 6.19 6.062-Year Note 6.96 6.87 6.703-Year Note 7.21 7.08 7.015-Year Note 7.63 7.53 7.417-Year Note 7.79 7.70 7.5810-Year Note 7.94 7.85 7.7630-Year Bond 8.09 8.04 7.94
Source: Cantor, Fitzgerald / Telerate
Stats
Stock Market: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 8.75 points yesterday to close at 3845.88.
Foreign Exchange: In late New York trading yesterday, the dollar was quoted at 97.70 Japanese yen and 1.51 72 German marks.
Commodities: The Commodity Research Bureau's index closed down 0.69 point yesterday at 233.92.
