Treasuries Close Nearly Flat Following Choppy Trading Day

(RTTNews) - Treasuries saw some volatility in early trading on Wednesday and continued to show a lack of direction throughout the session before closing roughly flat.

Bond prices spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, ended the session down by less than a basis point at 2.59 percent.

The lackluster performance by treasuries came as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testified before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress but not provide much new information.

In prepared remarks, Yellen stated that a high degree of monetary accommodation remains warranted in light of the considerable degree of slack that remains in labor markets and the continuation of inflation below the Fed's 2 percent objective.

She also reiterated that the Fed remains committed to policies designed to restore labor market conditions and inflation to levels consistent with its dual mandate.

Peter Boockvar, managing director at the Lindsey Group, said, "Yellen's testimony didn't reveal anything new. Her economic outlook pretty much mimicked what the FOMC statement said last week."

Bond traders also did not show much reaction to the results of the Treasury Department's auction of $24 billion worth of ten-year notes.

The ten-year note auction drew a high yield of 2.612 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.63, while the ten previous ten-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.67.

The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.

On the economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing that U.S. labor productivity fell by more than anticipated in the first quarter of 2014.

A separate Labor Department report on weekly jobless claims may attract some attention on Thursday along with Yellen's second day of testimony on Capitol Hill.

Bond traders are also likely to keep an eye on the results of the Treasury's auction of $16 billion worth of thirty-year bonds.