WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the rebound seen in the previous session, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday.
Bond prices gave back ground after an early advance and spent the rest of the session lingering near the unchanged line. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, eventually ended the day up by less than a basis point at 4.148 percent.
The choppy trading on the day came as traders kept an eye on developments on Washington, where lawmakers are struggling to reach an agreement to avert a government shutdown.
Ahead of midnight deadline, Democrats have demanded that a temporary funding bill include an extension of enhanced Obamacare tax credits, while Republicans argue the issue should be debated after a funding bill is passed.
After a meeting between President Donald Trump and Congressional leaders on Monday, Vice President JD Vance said he thinks 'we're headed to a shutdown because the Democrats won't do the right thing.'
'Relations between the Democrats and Republicans are frostier than an Alaska morning, so markets are not confident on the prospects of agreeing a deal before midnight tonight,' said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
He added, 'One of the biggest short-term concerns for markets is the impact this would have on the release of government data - particularly the jobs number due on Friday - without which the Federal Reserve might not feel as confident about cutting interest rates.'
On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board released a report showing a bigger than expected decrease by its reading on U.S. consumer confidence in the month of September.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index slid to 94.2 in September from an upwardly revised 97.8 in August. Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to dip to 96.0 from the 97.4 originally reported for the previous month.
With the bigger than expected decrease, the consumer confidence index dropped to its lowest level since April 2025.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department released a separate report showing job openings increased in the month of August.
The Labor Department said job openings rose to 7.227 million in August from an upwardly revised 7.208 million in July.
Economists had expected job openings to increase to 7.200 million from the 7.181 million originally reported for the previous month.
Early trading on Wednesday may be impacted by the outcome of last-minute negotiations to avert a government shutdown, while reports on private sector employment and manufacturing activity are also likely to attract attention.
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