Treasuries initially extended the strong upward move seen over the two previous sessions but gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Friday.<\/p>\n
Bond prices pulled back well off their best levels but managed to close modestly higher. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 2.6 basis points to 3.380 percent after hitting a six-month intraday low of 3.295 percent.<\/p>\n
The early strength in the bond market came as treasuries benefited from their appeal as a safe haven amid renewed concerns about the health<\/span> of the banking sector.<\/p>\n U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank (DB) moved sharply lower in early trading amid a spike by the German lender’s credit default swaps.<\/p>\n Credit Suisse (CS) and UBS Group (UBS) also came under pressure after a report from Bloomberg said they are among banks under scrutiny in a Justice Department probe into whether financial professionals helped Russian oligarchs evade sanctions.<\/p>\n UBS’ state-backed acquisition of troubled rival Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs, or $3.2 billion, helped ease concerns about recent banking industry turmoil earlier this week.<\/p>\n Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as stocks on Wall Street staged a significant recovery from early weakness, leading some traders to move money out of bonds.<\/p>\n On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a continued slump in orders for transportation equipment led to an unexpected decrease in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of February.<\/p>\n The Commerce Department said durable goods orders slid by 1.0 percent in February after plummeting by a revised 5.0 percent in January.<\/p>\n Economists had expected durable goods orders to increase by 0.6 percent compared to the 4.5 percent plunge that had been reported for the previous month.<\/p>\n Excluding the steep drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders were unchanged in February after rising by 0.4 percent in January. Ex-transportation orders were expected to inch up by 0.2 percent.<\/p>\n The economic calendar for next week is relatively quiet, although traders are likely to keep an eye on reports on consumer confidence, pending home sales and personal income and spending. <\/p>\n