Treasuries Finish Choppy Trading Day Roughly Flat

(RTTNews) - Following the modest weakness seen in the two previous sessions, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday.

Bond prices spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, crept up by less than a basis point to 3.814 percent.

The choppy trading on the day came amid a lack of major U.S. economic news, with traders looking ahead to the release of more closely watched data later in the week.

On Friday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on personal income and spending in the month of July, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.

Economists currently expect the annual rate of consumer price growth to inch up to 2.6 percent in July from 2.5 percent in June, while the annual rate of core consumer price is expected to tick up to 2.7 percent in July from 2.6 percent in June.

The data is not likely to affect optimism the Fed will lower rates next month, but it could impact expectations for how quickly the central bank cuts rates.

During his speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium last Friday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the "time has come for policy to adjust" but noted the "timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks."

Trading on Thursday may be impacted by reaction to the latest U.S. economic data, including reports on weekly jobless claims and pending home sales.