WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Treasuries regained some ground after an early slump but still ended Friday's trading lower, adding to the steep drop seen on Thursday.
While bond prices climbed well off their worst levels, they finished the day in negative territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 2.4 basis points to 4.440 percent after reaching a high of 4.484 percent.
The ten-year yield added to the 8.8 basis point surge seen in the previous session, reaching its highest closing level in eight months.
The continued weakness among treasuries came amid an extended surge by the price of crude oil, with international benchmark Brent crude futures jumping back above $110 a barrel after soaring by more than 5 percent during Thursday's trading.
Crude oil prices continued to spike even though President Donald Trump extended the pause on attacking Iran's energy plants by 10 days to April 6th.
Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that negotiations with Iran are 'going very well,' although Iranian state media has said Tehran 'responded negatively' to a U.S. peace proposal.
'Comments from Washington and Tehran about a potential peace process seem to come from parallel worlds, with the former indicating talks are going well while the latter effectively denies talks are even happening,' said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
'For now, fighting continues and the path out of the current crisis remains unclear,' he added. 'Oil prices, probably the best indicator, remain elevated and have reached $110 per barrel again.'
Mould noted that the longer crude oil prices remain at elevated levels the greater the fear of inflationary pressures returning in a meaningful way.
In U.S. economic news, released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated by more than previously estimated in the month of March, according to revised data released by the University of Michigan on Friday.
The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for March was downwardly revised to 53.3 from a preliminary reading of 55.5. Economists had expected the index to be downwardly revised to 54.0.
With the bigger than expected downward revision, the consumer sentiment index is well below February's final reading of 56.6.
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