Treasuries Show Strong Move Back To The Upside

(RTTNews) - Treasuries showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Tuesday, more than offsetting the pullback seen in the previous session.

Bond prices moved notably higher early in the session and remained firmly positive throughout the day. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 8.2 basis points to 4.137 percent.

With the decrease on the day, the ten-year yield ended the session at its lowest closing level in almost a month.

The rebound by treasuries came following the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing U.S. service sector growth slowed by slightly more than expected in the month of February.

The ISM said its services PMI fell to 52.6 in February after climbing to 53.4 in January. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth, economists had expected the index to show a more modest decrease to 53.0.

The Commerce Department also released a report showing a steep drop in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the month of January.

Meanwhile, traders were also looking ahead to congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is due to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.

The Fed chief is likely to reiterate recent comments stressing the central bank needs greater confidence inflation is slowing before cutting interest rates.

The next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for March 19-20, with the Fed widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged.

Powell's congressional testimony is likely to be in the spotlight on Wednesday, although reports on private sector employment and job openings are also likely to attract attention along with the Fed's Beige Book.