Treasuries See Further Downside Amid Rally On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Following the pullback seen in the previous session, treasuries saw some further downside during trading on Wednesday.

Bond prices moved lower in early trading and remained stuck in negative territory throughout the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2.5 basis points to 2.264 percent.

The continued weakness among treasuries was partly due to further strength on Wall Street, as stocks moved higher for the third straight day.

Energy stocks helped to lead the way higher amid a substantial increase by the price of crude oil, which climbed further off its recent lows.

Crude for February delivery jumped $1.36 to $37.50 a barrel amid the release of a report unexpectedly showing a sharp drop in crude oil inventories.

Traders were also reacting to a slew of U.S. economic data, including a report from the Commerce Department showing that new home sales increased for the second consecutive month in November.

The Commerce Department said new home sales climbed 4.3 percent to an annual rate of 490,000 in November from the revised October rate of 470,000.

A separate report from the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment improved by more than initially estimated in December.

The report said the final reading on the consumer sentiment index for December came in at 92.6 compared to the preliminary reading of 91.8 and the final November reading of 91.3.

Earlier in the day, the Commerce Department released a report showing that personal income and spending rose at the same rate in the month of November.

The report said personal income increased by 0.3 percent in November after climbing by 0.4 percent in October. Economists had expected income to edge up by 0.2 percent.

The Commerce Department said personal spending also rose by 0.3 percent in November, while revised data showed spending was unchanged in October. The increase in spending matched economist estimates.

The spending component of the report was inadvertently released last night, well ahead of the scheduled release this morning.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed that durable goods orders were virtually unchanged in November after surging up by 2.9 percent in October. Orders had been expected to pull back by about 0.5 percent.

Trading activity on Thursday is likely to be somewhat subdued due to the early close for Christmas Eve, although traders are still likely to keep an eye on a report on weekly jobless claims.