Treasuries See Further Upside As Coronavirus Death Toll Rises

(RTTNews) - Extending the upward trend seen over the past several sessions, treasuries moved to the upside during trading on Friday.

Bond prices saw further upside late in the trading day, reaching new highs for the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.8 basis points to 1.520 percent.

With the continued decrease on the day, the ten-year yield slumped to its lowest closing level in nearly four months.

Treasuries continued to benefit from concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, as the death toll from the disease continues to rise.

Chinese officials said 213 people have died from the coronavirus, while the number of confirmed cases has risen to more than 9,800.

The U.K. and Russia have also confirmed their first cases of coronavirus infection, raising concerns about the rapid spread of the disease and the impact on the global economy.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Commerce Department showing personal income increased by slightly more than anticipated in the month of December.

The report said personal income rose by 0.2 percent in December after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.4 percent in November.

Economists had expected income to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.5 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department also said personal sending climbed by 0.3 percent in December following a 0.4 percent increase in November, with the growth matching expectations.

Excluding price changes, personal spending inched up by 0.1 percent in December after rising by 0.3 percent in November.

Revised data released by the University of Michigan showed U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly improved in the month of January compared to the previously reported deterioration.

The consumer sentiment index for January was upwardly revised to 99.8 from the preliminary reading of 99.1. The index is now up from the final December reading of 99.3.

The upward revision came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the consumer sentiment index to be unrevised at 99.1.

While news regarding the coronavirus outbreak will continue to attract attention next week, traders are also likely to keep an eye on the monthly jobs data as well as reports on manufacturing and service sector activity.