2021.04.2619:29:00UTC+00Treasuries Close Nearly Unchanged After Recovering From Initial Weakness

After recovering from an initial move to the downside, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Monday.

Bond prices spent most of the session lingering near the unchanged line before closing roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by less than a basis point to 1.570 percent.

The choppy trading on the day came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy, but traders will be paying close attention to any changes to the accompanying statement that may signal a shift in the near future.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods increased by much less than expected in the month of March.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders rose by 0.5 percent in March after falling by a revised 0.9 percent in February.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to spike by 2.5 percent compared to the 1.2 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month.

The much weaker than expected durable goods orders growth was partly due to a continued decrease in orders for transportation equipment.

Excluding the drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders jumped by 1.6 percent in March after dipping by 0.3 percent in February. The increase matched economist estimates.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off the results of the Treasury Department's auctions of two-year and five-year notes, which attracted below average demand.

Trading activity may remain light on Tuesday as the Fed announcement looms, although reports on home prices and consumer confidence may attract some attention.