Treasuries Close Nearly Flat After Recovering From Early Weakness

(RTTNews) - After moving to the downside in early trading, treasuries recovered over the course of the trading session on Friday to end the day roughly flat.

Bond prices spent the afternoon lingering near the unchanged line. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by less than a basis point to 1.849 percent.

The lackluster close by treasuries came as traders looked ahead to the release of some key economic data next week.

Traders are likely to keep a close eye on reports on new home sales, international trade, and durable goods orders as well as a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

The data along with Yellen's speech could have a significant impact on expectations regarding whether the Fed will raise interest rates next month.

The National Association of Realtors released a report this morning showing that existing home sales rose for the second consecutive month in April.

NAR said existing home sales climbed 1.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.45 million in April after jumping 5.7 percent to an upwardly revised 5.36 million in March.

Economists had expected existing home sales to rise by about 1.3 percent to a rate of 5.40 million from the 5.33 million originally reported for the previous month.

Along with the data and Yellen's speech, next week's trading may be impacted by the results of the Treasury Department's auctions of two-year note, five-year, and seven-year notes.

The Treasury said it plans to sell $26 billion worth of two-year notes next Tuesday, $34 billion worth of five-year notes next Wednesday, and $28 billion worth of seven-year notes next Thursday.