Treasuries Lose Ground Amid Light Volume, Lack of News

By Yi Ping Ho ,

U.S. Treasuries inched down in recent activity, as volume remained light and news was scarce.

The two-year Treasury note dipped 1/32 to 100 6/32, raising the yield to 4.149%. Yields and prices move in opposite directions. The 10-year benchmark note lost 6/32 to 97 11/32, yielding 5.352%, while the 30-year Treasury bond, otherwise known as the long bond, traded at 94 29/32 after losing 3/32, with a yield of 5.732%.

"There is nothing to speak of. It's one of those days where equities and bonds are both down," said Charles Parkhurt, co-head of government trading at

Salomon Smith Barney

.

Traders believe next week's bag of data will be important, particularly the

retail sales report for May and the latest

consumer price index and

producer price index, measures that will signal the level of inflation in the economy.

"They're quite important, as the Fed has been really aggressive and the economy's not showing a whole lot of life," said Parkhurst, referring to next week's data. "Inflation is coming back in, which is one of the reasons why the yield curve is so steep. Weak retail sales and higher inflation could be a mixed blessing for the bond market. The short end could be strong, but the long end could trade down."

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