WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After initially showing a lack of direction, treasuries moved higher over the course of the trading session on Monday.
Bond prices moved to the upside in late-morning trading and remained firmly positive throughout the afternoon. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.3 basis points to 2.722 percent.
With the decrease on the day, the ten-year yield gave back ground after ending last Friday's trading at its highest closing level in over a month.
The advance by treasuries coincided with a pullback by stocks on Wall Street, which came under pressure after seeing initial strength.
Profit taking contributed to the downturn by stocks after continued reports of progress in U.S.-China trade talks drove the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to their best intraday levels in over four months in early trading.
Traders were also reacting to a report from the Commerce Department showing an unexpected drop in construction spending in the month of December.
The report said construction spending fell by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of $1.293 trillion in December after climbing by 0.8 percent to a rate of $1.301 trillion in November. The drop surprised economists, who had expected spending to edge up by 0.2 percent.
Trading on Tuesday may be impacted by reaction to reports on service sector activity in February and new home sales in December.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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