Treasuries Close Nearly Unchanged Following Last Week's Volatility

(RTTNews) - Following the volatility seen last week, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Monday.

Bond prices spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by less than a basis point to 1.640 percent.

The choppy trading on the day came after treasuries moved notably higher last Thursday and Friday, partly offsetting the sell-off seen earlier in the week.

Traders may have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.

Traders are likely to closely analyze the Fed minutes for indications officials are growing concerned about the recent acceleration in inflation and considering tapering asset purchases.

The Fed has repeatedly signaled that it believes the increase in inflation largely reflects "transitory factors," although the spike in consumer prices reported by the Labor Department last week still helped trigger the sell-off by bonds.

Trading may remain somewhat subdued on Tuesday, but traders are likely to keep an eye on the Commerce Department's report on new residential construction in the month of April.