Treasuries Close Modestly Lower Following Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - Treasuries fluctuated throughout much of the trading day on Tuesday before drifting lower and ending the session modestly lower.

After spending morning trading bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line, bond prices settled in the red in the afternoon. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2.1 basis points to 1.916 percent.

With the increase, the ten-year yield closed higher for the second straight day, climbing further off the two-month closing low set last Friday.

The choppy trading seen for most of the session came as traders stayed on the sidelines amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.

The economic calendar will pick up in the comings days with the release of reports on weekly jobless claims, durable goods orders, and new and existing home sales.

Nonetheless, traders may remain reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will pay close attention to any indications regarding the possibility of a rate hike in June.

Trading on Wednesday could still be impacted by the release of the National Association of Realtors' report on existing home sales in the month of March.

Economists expect existing home sales to climb to an annual rate of 5.045 million in March from 4.88 million in February.