2021.04.1619:23:00UTC+00Treasuries Give Back Ground Following Yesterday's Rally

After moving sharply higher over the course of the previous session, treasuries gave back ground during trading on Friday.

Bond prices climbed off their worst levels after seeing early weakness but still closed in the red. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 4.3 basis points to 1.573 percent.

The rebound by the ten-year yield came after it ended Thursday's trading at its lowest closing level in over a month.

The pullback by treasuries may have reflected profit taking after yesterday's rally, which came despite the release of a batch of largely upbeat U.S. economic data.

In more upbeat news on the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a substantial rebound in new residential construction in the month of March.

The Commerce Department said housing starts skyrocketed by 19.4 percent to an annual rate of 1.739 million in March after plunging by 11.3 percent to a revised rate of 1.457 million in February.

Economists had expected housing starts to spike by 13.5 percent to a rate of 1.613 million from the 1.421 million originally reported for the previous month.

With the bigger than expected increase, housing starts reached their highest level since hitting an annual rate of 1.802 million in June of 2006.

Meanwhile, the University of Michigan released a report showing sentiment has continued to improve in April but by much less than anticipated.

The preliminary report showed the consumer sentiment index rose to 86.5 in April after soaring to 84.9 in March. Economists had expected the index to jump to 89.6.

Despite the much smaller than expected increase, the consumer sentiment index still reached its highest level since hitting 89.1 in March of 2020.

Following the slew of U.S. economic released over the past few days, the economic calendar is relatively quiet next week. Traders are still likely to keep an eye on reports on new and existing home sales and weekly jobless claims.