Treasuries Close Nearly Unchanged Following Slew Of Economic Data

(RTTNews) - Treasuries saw modest strength for much of the trading day on Wednesday but ended the session nearly unchanged.

Bond prices pulled back near the unchanged line going into the close. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 0.878 percent.

The roughly flat close by treasuries came following the release of a slew of U.S. economic data, with a report from the Labor Department showing fist-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased in the week ended November 21st.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 778,000, an increase of 30,000 from the previous week's revised level of 748,000.

The increase surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to drop to 730,000 from the 742,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods increased by more than expected in the month of October, the Commerce Department revealed in a report.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders jumped by 1.3 percent in October after spiking by 2.1 percent in September. Economists had expected durable goods orders to climb by 0.9 percent.

Excluding an increase in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders still surged up by 1.3 percent in October after jumping by 1.5 percent in September. Ex-transportation orders were expected to rise by 0.4 percent.

A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed the spike in gross domestic product in the third quarter was unrevised from the initial estimate.

The Commerce Department said GDP skyrocketed by an annual rate of 33.1 percent in the third quarter after plunging by 31.4 percent in the second quarter. The unrevised reading on GDP matched economist estimates.

Another report from the Commerce Department showed new home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly edged lower in the month of October.

The Commerce Department said new home sales dipped by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of 999,000 in October after inching up by 0.1 percent to a revised rate of 1.002 million in September.

Economists had expected new home sales to jump by 1.1 percent to a rate of 970,000 from the 959,000 originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department also released a report showing a decrease in U.S. personal income in the month of October.

The report said personal income fell by 0.7 percent in October after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.7 percent in September.

Economists had expected personal income to come in unchanged compared to the 0.9 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Following the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday, trading activity may be subdued on Friday amid a lack of major U.S. economic data and an early close for the markets.