Treasuries Close Lower Following Disappointing Ten-Year Note Auction

(RTTNews) - Treasuries fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before ending the day firmly in negative territory.

Bond prices closed in the red after spending the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 2.5 basis points to 4.151 percent.

The lower close by treasuries came after the Treasury Department revealed this month's auction of $35 billion worth of ten-year notes attracted well below average demand.

The ten-year note auction drew a high yield of 4.140 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.23, while the ten previous ten-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.46.

The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.

Meanwhile, the choppy trading seen for much of the session came amid lingering uncertainty about the results of the U.S. midterm elections.

Control of both houses of Congress remains up for grabs following yesterday's elections, although Republicans are projected to earn a majority in the House.

The performance by Republicans was not as strong as many had expected, with many candidates backed by former President Donald Trump underperforming.

It remains unclear which party will have a majority in the Senate, as key races in Georgia, Nevada and Arizona currently remain undecided.

The Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation is likely to be it the spotlight on Thursday, as traders closely analyze the data for clues about the outlook for interest rates.