Treasuries Give Back Ground Following Recent Strength

(RTTNews) - After moving notably higher over the past couple weeks, treasuries gave back some ground during trading on Friday.

Bond prices came under pressure in early trading and saw some further downside as the day progressed. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 5.4 basis points to 1.618 percent.

The rebound by treasuries came as traders picked up bonds at reduced levels, as the ten-year yield ended the previous session at its lowest closing level in almost four years.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report this morning showing a modest drop in new residential construction in the month of May.

The report said housing starts edged down by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.164 million in May from the revised April estimate of 1.167 million.

Economists had expected housing starts to dip to a rate of 1.150 million from the 1.172 million originally reported for the previous month.

While the U.S. economic calendar will be relatively quiet next week, traders are likely to focus on the outcome of the Brexit vote on Thursday.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's testimony before Congress is also likely to attract some attention along with reports on new home sales and durable goods orders.