Treasuries Extend Upward Trend Seen In Recent Sessions

(RTTNews) - Treasuries moved higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, extending the upward trend seen in recent sessions.

Bond prices moved to the upside in early trading and remained positive throughout the day. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.3 basis points to 1.556 percent.

With the decrease on the day, the ten-year yield closed lower for the eighth consecutive session, falling to a three-week low.

Treasuries may have benefited from their appeal as a safe haven amid continued uncertainty about the presidential race after last night's debate.

While some pundits gave the edge to Hillary Clinton, the debate did not seem to feature any substantial blows that will lead to a significant shakeup in the race for the White House.

Recent polls have shown Clinton and Donald Trump running neck-and-neck, suggesting that uncertainty about the outcome of the race could prevail for the next several weeks.

On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board released a report showing an unexpected improvement in consumer confidence in the month of September.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 104.1 in September from an upwardly revised 101.8 in August.

The increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to drop 98.8 from the 101.1 originally reported for the previous month.

"Consumer confidence increased in September for a second consecutive month and is now at its highest level since the recession," said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board.

She added, "Overall, consumers continue to rate current conditions favorably and foresee moderate economic expansion in the months ahead."

Bond prices saw continued strength following the release of the results of the Treasury Department's auction of $34 billion worth of five-year notes, which attracted average demand.

The five-year note auction drew a high yield of 1.129 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.39, while the ten previous five-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.42.

The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.

On Wednesday, the Treasury Department is due to finish off this week's series of long-term securities auctions with the sale of $28 billion worth of seven-year notes.

A report on durable goods orders in the month of August is also likely to attract attention on Wednesday along with speeches by several Federal Reserve officials.

Traders are likely to keep a close eye on Fed Chair Janet Yellen's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, although the hearing will focus on the Fed's supervision of big banks.