Treasuries Close Roughly Flat Following Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - After moving notably higher in the previous session, treasuries showed a lack of direction throughout the trading day on Wednesday.

Bond prices spent the day lingering near the unchanged line before ending the day roughly flat. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 1.541 percent.

The roughly flat close by treasuries came as traders largely shrugged off the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, which said economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace from July through late August.

The Fed said most districts reported a "modest" or "moderate" pace of overall growth, with contacts across the twelve districts generally expecting moderate economic growth in coming months.

The report also said labor market conditions remained tight in most districts, while price increases remained slight overall.

The Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in the twelve Fed districts, will be used by Fed officials when they make their next policy decision later this month.

Trading on Thursday may be impacted by reaction to a report on weekly jobless claims, which are expected to inch up to 264,000 in the week ended September 3rd.

Bond traders are also likely to keep an eye on the Treasury Department's announcement of the details of next week's auctions of three-year and ten-year notes and thirty-year bonds.