After ending the previous session sharply higher, treasuries saw further upside over the course of the trading day on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Bond prices showed a lack of direction early in the session but managed to finish the day firmly positive. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell 4.8 basis points to 4.523 percent.<\/p>\n
With the continued decrease on the day, the ten-year yield ended the session at its lowest closing level in well over a month.<\/p>\n
Treasuries reached new highs for the session after the Treasury Department revealed this month’s auction of $40 billion worth of ten-year notes attracted average demand.<\/p>\n
The ten-year note auction drew a high yield of 4.519 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.45, while the ten previous ten-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.48.<\/p>\n
The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the Treasury revealed this month’s auction of $48 billion worth of three-year notes attracted modestly below average demand.<\/p>\n
The Treasury is due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $24 billion worth of thirty-year bonds on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Treasuries continued to benefit from optimism about the outlook for interest rates even though Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell refrained from specifically addressing monetary policy during a speech this morning.<\/p>\n
Powell is also scheduled to participate in a policy panel discussion before the 24th Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Fed chief’s remarks on Thursday may attract more attention, while traders are also likely to keep an eye on a report on weekly jobless claims. <\/p>\n