[MARKET ANALYSIS] Fixed faltered as risk sentiment saw a fleeting recovery, US Challenger released early, Claims due later

• A contained start for fixed benchmarks with newsflow somewhat light early doors aside from ongoing digestion of updates regarding Venezuela.
• USTs got to a 112-21 peak, firmer by three ticks, and Bunds to a 128.15 high with gains of 10 ticks at most early doors. Thereafter, the benchmarks began to gradually trim as the risk tone lifted off lows into the morning, with assistance coming via reporting regarding NVIDIA. For USTs, an early release of December's Challenger Jobs series spurred no move, headline printed at 35.55k (prev. 71.3k).
• Note, while the bounce in sentiment was relatively short-lived, the fixed space hasn't been able to mount a recovery, leaving USTs at a 112-14 base and Bunds towards their 127.86 trough, lower by four and 20 ticks at most respectively.
• Supply this morning came from Spain (fine, but softer than is usually the case) and France (strong overall), but neither outing spurred any significant move.
• Gilts opened near-enough unchanged just above 92.00 before extending to 92.16 and then falling to a 91.88 low, in-fitting with action in peers. No move to the latest DMP survey.

The fixed income market is showing signs of weakness as risk sentiment briefly recovered, influenced by a lack of strong macro data. The early release of the Challenger Jobs report, indicating a notable decrease in job cuts, failed to spur any significant market reaction, leaving USTs and Bunds lower from their early gains. Overall, this highlights that despite a momentary lift in sentiment, fixed income benchmarks are still struggling to find a stable footing, which could suggest ongoing caution in the market ahead of U.S. job claims data later today.