Treasuries Pull Back Off Early Highs But Close In Positive Territory

(RTTNews) - After showing a strong move to the upside early in the session, treasuries gave back some ground but still ended Thursday's trading higher.

Bond prices moved roughly sideways in afternoon trading, hovering in positive territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.2 basis points to 1.564 percent.

The decrease on the day extended a recent downward trend by the ten-year yield, which fell to its lowest closing level in almost four years.

The early strength among treasuries came as traders reacted to inaction by global central banks, including the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve.

The Bank of Japan announced its decision to hold interest rates steady overnight and did not offer additional monetary stimulus.

The decision led to a jump in the value of the safe-haven yen, which reached its highest levels against the U.S. dollar since August of 2014.

The announcement by the Japanese central bank came on the heels of the Fed's widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged on Wednesday.

The Fed also seemed to offer a dovish assessment of the outlook for interest rates, with six Fed officials now expecting only one rate hike by the end of the year.

The decision was partly attributed to concerns about the upcoming referendum on Britain's membership in the European Union.

The Bank of England also maintained its monetary policy amid concerns about the vote on the so-called Brexit next Thursday.

While a recovery attempt by stocks pulled treasuries down off their best levels, the Brexit worries helped them remain in positive territory.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off the day's U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing a slightly smaller than expected increase in consumer prices in May.

Following the slew of data released this morning, the economic calendar for Friday is relatively quiet, but traders are likely to keep an eye on a report on housing starts.