Treasuries Close Slightly Lower Following Choppy Trading Day

(RTTNews) - Treasuries showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading day on Monday before ending the session slightly lower.

After spending much of the session near the unchanged line, bond prices moved to the downside going into the close. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by 1 basis point to 1.948 percent.

With the modest uptick on the day, the ten-year yield closed higher for the fifth consecutive session, climbing further off its recent lows.

The choppy trading in the bond market came as traders seemed reluctant to make any significant moves amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.

The economic calendar remains relatively light throughout the week, although traders are likely to keep an eye on reports on weekly jobless claims, retail sales, and consumer sentiment.

Meanwhile, bond traders seemed to shrug off the latest news out of Greece, which remains in debt negotiations with the other countries in the eurozone.

In a speech to parliament, new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reiterated his pre-election pledge to roll back austerity and reject an extension of the international bailout.

Declaring "the bailout failed," Tsipras promised to raise the minimum wage, pay a pension bonus and rehire public workers.

Peter Boockvar, managing director at the Lindsey Group, said, "Tsipras' talk to his parliament on Sunday did not sound like a man of compromise."

"He is still hoping for a bridge loan that will take them past the expiration of the February 28th bailout into June to give time to further negotiate but the head of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem said 'we don't do bridging loans,'" he added.

Trading activity may remain somewhat subdued on Tuesday amid another relatively quiet day on the U.S. economic front.