Treasuries Close Roughly Flat After Seeing Early Strength

(RTTNews) - Treasuries gave back ground after an early move to the upside on Tuesday and spent most of the day lingering near the unchanged line.

Bond prices bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before closing roughly flat. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down less than a basis point to 4.052 percent.

With the slight decrease, the ten-year yield extended the slump seen over the two previous sessions, slipping to its lowest closing level in well over two months.

The choppy trading on the day came as traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of release of key economic data in the coming days.

A report on personal income and spending in the month of December is likely to attract attention, as it includes the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on inflation.

The minutes of the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting may also shed additional light on the outlook for interest rates.

Trading on Wednesday may be impacted by reaction to reports on durable goods orders, housing starts and industrial production as well as the minutes of the latest Fed meeting.