2019.03.2715:25:00UTC+00Treasuries Extend Recent Upward Trend, Pushing Yields Lower

Extending the upward trend seen over the past few sessions, treasuries moved higher during the trading day on Wednesday.

Bond prices moved to the upside early in the session and remained firmly positive throughout the day. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 4 basis points to 2.374 percent.

With the continued decrease on the day, the ten-year yield once again dropped to its lowest closing level since December of 2017.

Treasuries continued to benefit from their appeal as a safe haven amid concerns about the U.S. economic outlook amid a slowdown in global growth.

The drop in bond yields has actually added to the economic worries, with an inversion of the yield curve seen as an indication of a potential recession.

Traders were also reacting to a report from the Commerce Department showing the U.S. trade deficit narrowed much more than expected in January due to a steep drop in the value of imports.

The Commerce Department said the trade deficit narrowed to $51.1 billion in January from a revised $59.9 billion in December. Economists had expected the deficit to shrink to $57.0 billion.

In the previous month, the trade deficit increased to its highest level since reaching $60.2 billion in October of 2008.

The narrower than expected deficit came as the value of imports tumbled by 2.6 percent to $258.5 billion, while the value of exports rose by 0.9 percent to $207.3 billion.

Michael Pearce, Senior U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, noted the steep drop in the value of imports is "hardly a positive sign for the economy."

"Nonetheless, with imports now likely to have been flat, or fallen slightly, in the first quarter overall, net trade is likely to be a positive for economic growth in the first quarter," Pearce said.

He added, "We now expect first quarter GDP growth to come in around 2.0% annualized, up from our previous estimate of 1.5%."

Treasuries remained firmly positive in afternoon trading even though the Treasury Department's auction of $41 billion worth of five-year notes attracted below average demand.

The five-year note auction drew a high yield 2.172 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.35, while the ten previous five-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.43.

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

On Thursday, the Treasury is due to finish off this week's series of long-term securities auctions with the sale of $32 billion worth of seven-year notes.

Economic data is also likely to attract attention on Thursday, with traders likely to keep an eye on reports on fourth quarter GDP, weekly jobless claims, and pending home sales.