Treasuries Sustain Early Move To The Upside

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session roughly flat, treasuries showed a notable move to the upside during trading on Friday.

Bond prices moved higher early in the trading day and remained firmly positive throughout the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 4.4 basis points to 2.148 percent.

With the decrease on the day, the ten-year yield gave back ground after inching up to its highest closing level in well over two years on Thursday.

Bargain hunting may have contributed to the rebound by treasuries, with traders picking up bonds at reduced levels following recent weakness.

Traders also kept an eye on the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war, as ongoing peace talks have thus far failed to yield a breakthrough.

President Joe Biden spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the conflict this morning, with the White House saying Biden described the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia.

In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing a sharp pullback in U.S. existing home sales in the month of February.

NAR said existing home sales plunged by 7.2 percent to an annual rate of 6.02 million in February after surging by 6.6 percent to a revised rate of 6.49 million in January.

Economists had expected existing home sales to tumble by 6.2 percent to a rate of 6.10 million from the 6.50 million originally reported for the previous month.

The steeper than expected pullback came after existing home sales reached their highest annual rate in a year in January.

A separate report from the Conference Board showed its U.S. leading economic index rose by slightly more than expected in the month of February.

The Conference Board said its leading economic index increased by 0.3 percent in February after falling by a revised 0.5 percent in January.

Economists had expected the leading economic index to edge up by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.3 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.

Reports on new home sales, durable goods orders, and pending home sales may attract attention next week, while traders are also likely to keep an eye on the latest developments overseas.