Treasuries Close Modestly Lower Following Choppy Trading Day

(RTTNews) - Treasuries showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading day on Monday before ending the session modestly lower.

Bond prices bounced back and forth across the unchanged line in morning but remained mostly in the red in the afternoon. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by 1.5 basis points to 1.963 percent.

The modestly lower close by treasuries was partly due to a rally on Wall Street, with the Dow surging up by more than 275 points on the day.

A report from the National Association of Realtors showing that pending home sales jumped to their highest level in twenty months in February may also have weighed on treasuries.

NAR said its pending home sales index surged up 3.1 percent to 106.9 in February after climbing 1.2 percent to a slightly downwardly revised 103.7 in January. Economists had expected the index to edge up by 0.3 percent.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

With the bigger than expected increase, the pending home sales index reached its highest level since hitting 109.4 in June of 2013.

Traders were also presented a report from the Commerce Department showing that personal income rose by slightly more than expected in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said personal income climbed by 0.4 percent in February, matching the upwardly revised increase seen in January. Economists had been expecting income to rise by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the report also showed that personal spending inched up by 0.1 percent in February after dipping by 0.2 percent in January. Spending had been expected to edge up by 0.2 percent.

Economic data may continue to attract attention on Tuesday, with traders likely to keep an eye on reports on home prices, consumer confidence, and Chicago-area business activity.