Treasuries Close Moderately Lower Ahead Of Bernanke Speech, Data

(RTTNews) - Treasuries moved moderately lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, offsetting the upward move seen in the previous session.

After moving modestly lower in morning trading, bond prices saw some further downside going into the close. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 3.4 basis points to 2.712 percent.

The pullback by treasuries was partly due to some trepidation ahead of the release of some key economic data on Wednesday, including reports on retail sales, consumer prices, and existing home sales.

The reports could have a significant impact on expectations regarding when the Federal Reserve will begin scaling back its asset purchase program.

In light of the focus on the outlook for the Fed's stimulus program, traders are also likely to keep a close eye on remarks by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Bernanke is scheduled to deliver the Herbert Stein Memorial Lecture at the National Economists Club's annual dinner in Washington at 7 pm ET.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing that employee compensation costs rose by slightly less than expected in the third quarter.

The Labor Department said its employment cost index rose by 0.4 percent in the third quarter following a 0.5 percent increase in the second quarter. Economists had expected the index to rise by another 0.5 percent.

Trading on Wednesday is likely to be impacted by reaction to Bernanke's speech as well as the slew of economic data. The release of the minutes of the latest Fed meeting is also likely to attract attention.