2014.04.2416:28:00UTC+00Treasuries Close Roughly Flat After Seeing Early Weakness

After recovering from an early move to the downside, treasuries showed a lack of direction for much of the session on Thursday before closing roughly flat.

Bond prices moved roughly sideways going into the close, lingering near the unchanged line. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by less than a basis point to 2.688 percent.

The early weakness among treasuries came as some traders looked to cash in on the notable upward move seen in the previous session.

A report from the Commerce Department showing that durable goods orders rose by more than expected in March also weighed on treasuries.

The report said durable goods orders surged up by 2.6 percent in March after jumping by a revised 2.1 percent in February. Economists had expected orders to climb by 2.0 percent.

Excluding an increase in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders still rose by 2.0 percent in March compared to economist estimates for 0.9 percent growth.

However, a separate report from the Labor Department showing a bigger than expected increase in weekly jobless claims helped to limit the downside for treasuries.

The subsequent rebound partly reflected renewed concerns about escalating tensions in eastern Ukraine amid reports that Ukrainian forces killed several pro-Russian militants during an "anti-terrorism" operation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described the interim Ukrainian government's use of armed force against its own population as a "serious crime against the people" and warned of "consequences."

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off the results of the Treasury Department's auction of $29 billion worth of seven-year notes.

The seven-year note auction drew a high yield of 2.317 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.60, while the ten previous seven-year note auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.55.

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

Today's seven-year note auction came after the Treasury sold $32 billion worth of two-year notes on Tuesday and $35 billion worth of five-year notes on Wednesday.

While any further developments in Ukraine are likely be in focus on Friday, traders are also likely to keep an eye on Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan's final report on U.S. consumer sentiment in April.