Treasuries Extend Upward Trend Amid Sell-Off On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Treasuries once again turned higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, extending a recent upward trend.

After seeing early weakness, bond prices climbed firmly into positive territory as the day progressed. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.6 basis points to 2.066 percent.

With the drop on the day, the ten-year yield closed lower for the ninth time in eleven sessions, falling to a new two-month closing low.

Treasuries benefited from a sell-off on Wall Street, as stocks fell sharply on the day and more than offset the gains posted on Tuesday.

The substantial weakness on the day pulled the major averages down to their lowest levels in well over three months.

The strength among treasuries also came as the Treasury Department's auction of $21 billion worth of ten-year notes attracted above average demand.

The ten-year note auction drew a high yield of 2.090 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.77, while the ten previous ten-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.64.

The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.

Finishing off this week's series of long-term securities auctions, the Treasury is due to sell $13 billion worth of thirty-year bonds on Thursday.

Trading on Thursday could also be impacted by the release of reports on weekly jobless claims and import and exports prices.