WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After trending higher over the past several sessions, treasuries gave back some ground over the course of the trading day on Wednesday.
Bond prices saw modest weakness in morning trading before seeing further downside in the afternoon. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by 1.8 basis points to 2.325 percent.
The modest pullback by treasuries may have reflected profit taking, with traders cashing in on some of the recent strength in the bond markets.
Trading activity remained relatively subdued, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data continued to keep traders on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Department sold $23 billion worth of ten-year notes on the day, attracting roughly average demand.
The ten-year note auction drew a high yield of 2.314 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.48, while the ten previous ten-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.44.
The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.
The Treasury is due to finish off this week's series of long-term securities auctions with the sale of $15 billion worth of thirty-year bonds on Thursday.
Trading on Thursday may also be impacted by reaction to economic reports on weekly jobless claims and wholesale inventories.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX