Treasuries Move Modestly Lower Amid Volatility By Oil Prices

(RTTNews) - Treasuries moved modestly lower during trading on Monday, partly offsetting the upward move seen in the previous session.

Bond prices moved to the downside in early trading and remained stuck in the red throughout the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged up by 2.1 basis points to 1.773 percent.

The modest weakness seen by treasuries came as traders kept a close eye on developments regarding the price of crude oil.

After falling as low as $37.61 a barrel, crude oil for May delivery showed a notable recovery but still ended the day down by $0.58 at $39.78 a barrel.

With the decrease, the price of crude oil closed lower for the fourth consecutive session after ending last Tuesday's trading at its highest closing level since November.

The initial drop by the price of oil came after major oil producing nations failed to reach an agreement on a production freeze at a weekend meeting in Doha.

On the U.S. economic front, the National Association of Home Builders released a report showing that homebuilder confidence remained unchanged in April.

The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index came in at 58 in April, unchanged from March. The index had been expected to inch up to 59.

The Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new residential construction in the month of March on Tuesday.

Housing starts are expected to drop to an annual rate of 1.167 million in March from 1.178 million in February, while building permits are expected to climb to 1.200 million from 1.167 million.