Treasuries Close Modestly Higher Amid Weakness On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Treasuries moved modestly higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, extending a recent upward trend.

Bond prices saw some big swings in early trading on the day but managed to finish the session in positive territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by 1.6 basis points to 1.784 percent.

The higher close by treasuries came amid weakness on Wall Street, with traders moving their money into the relative safety of bonds.

The weakness on Wall Street was partly due to the release of some disappointing economic data, with a report from payroll processor ADP showing weaker than expected private sector job growth.

ADP said the private sector added 156,000 jobs in April following an increase of 194,000 jobs in March. Economists had expected the addition of 193,000 jobs for the month.

The report raised some concerns ahead of the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

The Labor Department report is expected to show an increase of about 200,000 jobs in April, while the unemployment index is expected to edge down to 4.9 percent.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed a notably narrower U.S. trade deficit in the month of March.

The report said the trade deficit narrowed to $40.4 billion in March from $47.0 billion in February. The deficit had been expected to narrow to $41.4 billion.

The Labor Department also released a report showing a continued decrease in labor productivity and a jump in labor costs in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing stronger than expected service sector growth in April.

The ISM said its non-manufacturing index climbed to 55.7 in April from 54.5 in March, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the service sector. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 54.7.

Compared to the slew of data released today, Thursday is a relatively quiet day on the U.S. economic front, although the Labor Department is due to release its weekly jobless claims report.