Treasuries Close Modestly Higher Following Fed Minutes

(RTTNews) - Treasuries fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before ending the day modestly higher.

Bond prices gave back some ground going into the close but managed to end the day in positive territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped by 1.5 basis points to 1.561 percent.

The higher close by treasuries came following the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting, which suggested that officials were mixed about the outlook for monetary policy.

The minutes from the July meeting revealed that Fed officials generally agreed that it was prudent to accumulate more economic data before removing monetary accommodation.

However, the Fed said "some" members anticipated that economic conditions would soon warrant taking another step in removing policy accommodation.

Kansas City Fed president Esther George voted to raise interest rates, citing the easing of financial conditions since the U.K.'s Brexit vote, the return to trend economic growth, solid job growth, and inflation moving toward 2 percent.

Trading on Thursday may continue to be impacted by reaction to the Fed minutes along with reports on weekly jobless claims, Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity and leading economic indicators.

The Treasury Department is also due to announce the details of next week's auctions of two-year, five-year, and seven-year notes.