Treasuries Close Roughly Flat As Fed Decision Looms

(RTTNews) - After trending lower over the past several sessions, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Monday.

Bond prices spent the day lingering near the unchanged line before closing roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 4.397 percent.

The slight decrease on the day came after the ten-year yield closed higher for five consecutive sessions, reaching its highest levels in almost a month.

The choppy trading on the day came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to continue cutting interest rates, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 95.4 percent chance the central bank will lower rates by another 25 basis points.

Traders are likely to pay close attention to the Fed's accompanying statement as well as officials' latest economic projections, including their forecasts for rates.

Recent data showing inflation remains sticky has led to some worries the Fed will lower rates slower than previously anticipated next year.

Trading on Tuesday may be impacted by reaction to reports on retail sales and industrial production, although activity may be somewhat subdued ahead of the Fed announcement on Wednesday.