Treasuries Close Nearly Unchanged For Second Straight Day

(RTTNews) - After ending the previous session roughly flat, treasuries turned in another lackluster performance during trading on Wednesday.

Bond prices bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually ending the day nearly unchanged. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, crept up by less than a basis point to 4.275 percent.

The choppy trading on the day came following the release of data on private sector employment and service sector activity.

Payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of January.

ADP said private sector employment rose by 22,000 jobs in January after climbing by a downwardly revised 37,000 jobs in December.

Economists had expected private sector employment to grow by 45,000 jobs compared to the addition of 41,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, separate report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed continued growth by U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of January.

The ISM said its services PMI came in at 53.8 in January, unchanged from a revised reading in December. A reading above 50 indicates growth in the sector.

Economists had expected the services PMI to edge down to 53.5 from the 54.4 originally reported for the previous month.

Trading on Thursday may be impacted by reaction to the latest U.S. economic data, including reports on job openings and weekly jobless claims.