Treasuries Move To The Upside Following Troubling Consumer Confidence Data

(RTTNews) - After recovering from an initial move to the downside, treasuries moved moderately higher over the course of the trading session on Tuesday.

Bond prices climbed well off their early lows and into positive territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 2.4 basis points to 4.307 percent.

Treasuries regained ground following the notable pullback seen over the two previous sessions as the Conference Board released a report showing consumer confidence in the U.S. deteriorated by more than expected in the month of March.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 92.9 in March from an upwardly revised 100.1 in February.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to slump to 94.2 from the 98.3 originally reported for the previous month.

"Consumer confidence declined for a fourth consecutive month in March, falling below the relatively narrow range that had prevailed since 2022," said Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators at The Conference Board.

The steep drop by the headline index partly reflected a significant deterioration by consumer expectations, as the expectations index plunged to 65.2 in March from 74.8 in February.

The Conference Board noted the expectations index dove to its lowest level in 12 years and fell well below the threshold of 80 that usually signals a recession ahead.

The present situation index, which is based on consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions, showed a more modest decrease, sliding to 134.5 in March from 138.1 in February.

Trading on Wednesday may be impacted by reaction to the Commerce Department's report on durable goods orders in the month of February.