Treasuries Close Modestly Lower After Seeing Early Strength

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply higher in early trading, treasuries pulled back over the course of the trading day on Wednesday to end the session lower.

Bond prices came under pressure late in the session to finish the day in the red. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 1.7 basis points to 1.881 percent after hitting a low of 1.793 percent.

The volatility shown by treasuries on the day came as traders digested a mixed batch of U.S. economic data.

Before the start of trading, payroll processor ADP released a report showing stronger than expected private sector job growth in the month of January.

ADP said private sector employment jumped by 205,000 jobs in January following an upwardly revised increase of 267,000 jobs in December.

Economists had expected employment to climb by about 190,000 jobs compared to the addition of 257,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management released a separate report showing a slowdown in U.S. service sector growth.

The ISM said its non-manufacturing index dropped to 53.5 in January from an upwardly revised 55.8 in December, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the service sector.

Economists had expected the index to inch up to 55.5 from the 55.3 originally reported for the previous month.

Trading on Thursday may be impacted by the release of additional economic data, including reports on weekly jobless claims, labor productivity and costs and factory orders.