Most Interest Rates End Little Changed As Oil Prices Climb and Dollar Slumps
NEW YORK -- Most interest rates wound up little changed in another day of light activity in the credit markets.</br></br>Prices of long-term Treasury bonds inched lower as oil prices rose for the third consecutive day and as the dollar slumped in the foreign-exchange markets. Some 30-year Treasury bonds declined by slightly more than 1/8 point, or more than $1.25 for each $1,000 face amount. Corporate bond prices generally were flat, and municipal bond prices advanced.</br></br>Further clues to the economy's health and the interest-rate outlook are likely to emerge this morning when the Labor Department releases employment statistics for February. The report probably will indicate that the economy remains lethargic, according to most analysts in several recent surveys. Some contend that the economy is so weak that the Federal Reserve System will cut interest rates within a month or two in an effort to prevent a recession.</br></br>But many other analysts contend that the Labor Department figures will indicate that the economy is continuing to expand at a moderate clip and that the Fed doesn't need to provide additional stimulus. According to the average estimate of 15 economists polled by Dow Jones Capital Markets report, the number of workers on nonfarm payrolls rose 172,000 last month, following a 448,000 surge in January. Estimates range from 100,000 to 240,000. The average estimate on the civilian unemployment rate is for an increase to 6.8% from 6.7% in January.</br></br>"Until a few weeks ago, the economy looked like it was getting stronger," said Garnett L. Keith Jr., vice chairman of Prudential Insurance Co. of America. "But the latest batch of numbers makes everything look much more iffy."