Treasuries Move Sharply Higher As Data Eases Interest Rate Concerns

(RTTNews) - Treasuries showed a significant move to the upside on Tuesday, adding to the gains posted during Monday's session.

Bond prices moved sharply higher in morning trading and remained firmly positive throughout the afternoon. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price is tumbled 9.0 basis points to 4.122 percent.

The rally by treasuries came as the latest batch of U.S. economic data helped ease recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

Consumer confidence in the U.S. deteriorated by much more than anticipated in the month of August, according to a report released by the Conference Board.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 106.1 in August from a downwardly revised 114.0 in July.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to edge down to 116.5 from the 117.0 originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed job openings in the U.S. decreased to 8.8 million on the last business day of July.

"From the Fed's perspective, the week is off to a promising start with the JOLTS job opening report much softer than expected, alongside downward revisions to the previous month," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

He added, "The Fed needs to see a softer labor market to be confident that price pressures aren't just abating but substantially and sustainably and this report is a move in the right direction."

A report on private sector employment is likely to attract attention on Wednesday ahead of the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.