Treasuries Close Roughly Flat Ahead Of Fed Announcement

(RTTNews) - After seeing early strength, treasuries gave back ground over the course of the trading session on Tuesday to end the day roughly flat.

Bond prices finished the session slightly above the unchanged line. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 1.611 percent.

While the ten-year yield climbed well off its intraday lows, it still ended the session at its lowest closing level in well over three years.

The roughly flat close by treasuries came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement tomorrow afternoon.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders are likely to keep a close eye on the accompanying statement.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen's subsequent press conference is also likely to be in focus amid uncertainty about the possibility of a rate hike next month.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off the day's U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing stronger than expected retail sales growth in the month of May.

The Commerce Department said retail sales climbed by 0.5 percent in May after surging up by 1.3 percent in April. Economists had expected sales to rise by 0.3 percent.

Excluding an increase in auto sales, retail sales still rose by 0.4 percent in May following a 0.8 percent increase in the previous month. The ex-auto sales growth matched economist estimates.

The Labor Department also released a report showing that import prices surged up by much more than expected in May amid another substantial increase in fuel prices.

The Fed announcement is likely to be in the spotlight on Wednesday, overshadowing reports on producer prices, industrial production, and New York manufacturing activity.