Treasuries Show Modest Move Back To The Upside

(RTTNews) - Following the modest pullback seen in the previous session, treasuries moved back to the upside during trading on Friday.

Bond prices moved higher in morning trading and remained firmly positive throughout the afternoon. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped by 2.1 basis points to 2.501 percent.

The rebound by treasuries came as traders continued to digest the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed announced a widely anticipated quarter point increase in interest rates and projected two additional rate hikes this year.

On the U.S. economic front the Fed released a report this morning showing that industrial production was unexpectedly flat in February.

The Fed said industrial production was unchanged in February after edging down by a revised 0.1 percent in January. Economists had expected production to rise by 0.2 percent.

A jump in mining output and a continued increase in manufacturing output were offset by a continued slump in utilities output amid unseasonably warm weather.

The University of Michigan released a separate report showing a bigger than expected rebound in consumer sentiment in March.

The preliminary report showed that the consumer sentiment index rose to 97.6 in March after dropping to 96.3 in February. Economists had expected the index to rise to 97.0.

Following the slew of economic data released over the past week along with the Fed announcement, the economic calendar for next week is relatively quiet.

Nonetheless, traders are likely to keep an eye on reports on new and existing home sales and durable goods orders as well as speeches by a number of Fed officials.