U.S. stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs) climbed back into positive territory this morning on uplifting economic news about unemployment and other economic indicators.
Encouraging news from the Labor Department indicated that unemployment woes may finally be nearing some kind of end. Total unemployment insurance rolls fell by 148,000 to 6.69 million in the week ending June 6, a sign that layoffs are easing. It’s the biggest decline in more than seven years. Additionally, this drop snapped a 21-week rally of increases in continuing claims. Unfortunately, we aren’t completely in the clear. The department also stated that initial claims rose 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 608,000 last week.

To add to the good news, the Conference Board released a report outlining that the index of U.S. leading economic indicators rose more than previously expected.  The gauge increased by 1.2% after a revised 1.1% gain in April, posting the largest back-to-back gain since November-December of 2001, reports Shobhana Chandra of Bloomberg.

This array of good economic news has further caused Treasuries to fall for a second straight day and yields on Treasury notes to rise. The iShares Barclays 7-10 Yr Treasury (IEF) dropped nearly 0.5% in morning trading, while boasting a yield of 3.91%.

On a different note, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner states that gaps and weaknesses in the regulatory framework governing banks and other financial institutions has loopholes that made it difficult for the government to monitor and address risky market bets, states Anne Flaherty for the Associated Press.  For this reason, he is more convinced than ever that the newly proposed plan to increase financial oversight is vital for the future health of the U.S. markets.

Overall, the markets remained somewhat mixed in late morning trading.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1%, the S&P 500 jumped 0.7% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.2%.

For more news on Treasuries, visit our Treasuries category.

Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.

Tags: Bond ETFs, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Financial, IEF, NASDAQ, S&P 500, Sector ETFs, Treasury ETFs