Treasuries Close Flat Following Choppy Trading Session

(RTTNews) - Following the pullback seen in the previous session, treasuries showed a lack of direction throughout the trading day on Friday before closing flat.

Bond prices spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line, unable to sustain any significant moves. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, ended the day unchanged at 2.023 percent.

The lackluster performance on the day came amid choppy trading on Wall Street on the heels of the rally seen on Thursday.

Traders largely shrugged off the latest U.S. economic data, including a report from the Federal Reserve showing a modest drop in industrial production in September.

The report said industrial production fell by 0.2 percent in September after edging down by a revised 0.1 percent in August. Economists had expected production to drop by 0.3 percent.

The modest decrease in production was primarily due to the steep drop in mining output, which tumbled by 2.0 percent in September after coming in unchanged in August.

A separate report from the University of Michigan showed a bigger than expected rebound in consumer sentiment in the month of October.

The University of Michigan said the preliminary reading on its consumer sentiment index for October came in at 92.1 compared to the final September reading of 87.2. Economists had expected the index to rise to 89.5.

Richard Curtin, the survey's chief economist, said, "The rebound in confidence signifies that consumers have concluded that the fears expressed on Wall Street did not extend to Main Street."

"Importantly, the renewed confidence did not simply represent a relief rally, but instead reflected renewed optimism," he added.

The economic calendar for next week is relatively quiet, although traders are likely to keep an eye on reports on homebuilder confidence, housing starts, and existing home sales.