2019.07.1915:25:00UTC+00Treasuries Finish Lackluster Session Modestly Lower

Treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Friday before ending the day modestly lower.

Bond prices spent most of the day lingering just below the unchanged line. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by 1 basis point to 2.048 percent.

The modest pullback by treasuries came following the New York Federal Reserve's efforts to walk back comments President John Williams made Thursday that seemed to endorse a near-term interest rate cut.

Williams said it "pays to act quickly to lower rates at the first sign of economic distress," arguing it is "better to take preventative measures than to wait for disaster to unfold."

However, a New York Fed spokesman later claimed Williams' remarks were based on years of research and not specifically about potential policy actions at the upcoming Fed meeting.

On the U.S. economic front, the University of Michigan released a report on Friday showing a slight improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of July.

The preliminary report showed the consumer sentiment index inched up to 98.4 in July from the final June reading of 98.2. Economists had expected the index to edge up to 98.5.

"Consumer sentiment remained largely unchanged in early July from June, remaining at quite favorable levels since the start of 2017," said Surveys of Consumers chief economist Richard Curtin.

The economic calendar is relatively quiet next week, although traders are likely to keep an eye on reports on new and existing home sales, durable goods orders and second quarter GDP.

Bond trading could also be impacted by reaction to the announcement of the results of the Treasury Department's auctions of two-year, five-year, and seven-year notes.