Treasuries Close Slightly Lower Following Yesterday's Rally

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply higher over the course of the previous session, treasuries gave back some ground during trading on Friday but closed well off their worst levels.

Bond prices climbed well off their lows going into the close but still ended the day in the red. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged up by nearly a basis point to 2.484 percent.

With the slight uptick on the day, the ten-year yield climbed off the one-month closing low set in the previous session.

The modest weakness among treasuries was partly due to profit taking, with some traders cashing on yesterday's rally.

Strength on Wall Street also led some traders to move money out of bonds and into stocks, which moved back to the upside after coming under pressure on Thursday.

Nonetheless, selling pressure among treasuries remained relatively subdued amid continued concerns about the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

In U.S. economic news, Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan released a report showing an unexpected deterioration in consumer sentiment in the month of July.

The report said the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for July came in at 81.3 compared to the final June reading of 82.5. Economists had expected the index to edge up to 83.0.

Separately, the Conference Board said its leading economic index rose by 0.3 percent in June following an upwardly revised 0.7 percent increase in May.

Economists had been expecting the index to climb by 0.5 percent, matching the increase originally reported for the previous month.

While any further developments overseas could impact next week's trading, traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on consumer price inflation, durable goods orders, and new and existing home sales.