WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After showing a lack of direction early in the session, treasuries moved to the downside over the course of the trading day on Friday.
Bond prices slid firmly into negative territory in afternoon trading after spending the morning lingering near the unchanged line. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 3.5 basis points to 4.328 percent.
The weakness in among treasuries came following the release of mixed batch of U.S. economic data, which has led to some uncertainty about the outlook for the economy and interest rates.
While the Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales increased in line with economist estimates in July, the University of Michigan released a separate report showing an unexpected deterioration in consumer sentiment in August.
The Commerce Department said retail sales climbed by 0.5 percent in July after jumping by an upwardly revised 0.9 percent in June.
Economists had expected retail sales to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales rose by 0.3 percent in July after growing by 0.8 percent in June. The increase in ex-auto sales also matched expectations.
Meanwhile, the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index fell to 58.6 in August from 61.7 in July. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 62.0.
On the inflation front, year-ahead inflation expectations jumped to 4.9 percent in August from 4.5 in July, reflecting increases across multiple demographic groups and all three political affiliations.
Long-run inflation expectations also surged to 3.9 percent in August from 3.4 percent in July, rebounding following three straight months of decreases.
A separate report released by the Labor Department showed import prices in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of July, while the Federal Reserve released a report showing a slight pullback by industrial production in July.
Housing data may attract attention next week along with remarks by central bank officials at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.
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