WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the strength seen in the previous session, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Thursday.
Bond prices swung back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing roughly flat. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, crept up by less than a basis point to 4.293 percent.
Reflecting the volatility on the day, the ten-year yield bounced between a high of 4.321 percent and a low of 4.260 percent.
The choppy trading on the day came as traders kept an eye on the latest developments in the Middle East and the subsequent impact on the price of crude oil.
While crude oil initially showed a substantial rebound from yesterday's nosedive, prices have given back ground since then but remain sharply higher.
Crude for May was last seen trading at $97.93 a barrel, up $3.52 or 3.7 percent after soaring as much as 8.8 percent to a high above $100 a barrel.
The initial surge by crude oil prices came amid concerns about the fragility of the ceasefire in the Middle East, with Iran accusing the U.S. and Israel of violating the agreement.
Iran's deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh claimed in an interview with the BBC that Iran had once again closed the Strait of Hormuz.
Khatibzadeh argued Israel's bombardment of Lebanon earlier in the day was an 'intentional grave violation' of the ceasefire agreement.
However, crude oil prices gave back ground after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would begin negotiating with Lebanon 'as soon as possible.'
Netanyahu said the negotiations would focus on disarming Iran-backed Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon.
In U.S. economic news, a typically closely watched report released by the Commerce Department showed consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of February.
The Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index climbed by 0.4 percent in February after rising by 0.3 percent in January. Economists had expected prices to increase by 0.4 percent.
The report also said the annual rate of growth by the PCE price index came in unchanged at 2.8 percent, which was also in line with estimates.
Excluding food and energy prices, the core PCE price index still climbed by 0.4 percent in February, matching the increase seen in January as well as expectations.
The annual rate of growth by the core PCE price index slipped to 3.0 percent in February from 3.1 percent in January. The modest slowdown was in line with estimates.
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