2020.04.1419:32:00UTC+00Treasuries Close Nearly Flat Following Choppy Trading Day

Extending the lackluster performance seen over the past few sessions, treasuries showed a lack of direction throughout the trading day on Tuesday.

Bond prices bounced back and forth across 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 0.752 percent.

The choppy trading came as traders weighed recent signs of a flattening of the coronavirus curve against lingering concerns about the economic impact of the pandemic.

In a press briefing on Monday, President Donald Trump defended his administration's response to the pandemic and indicated he is working on plans to re-open the country.

Other officials, such as White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, have also recently expressed cautious optimism.

Cuomo said on Tuesday that the number of coronavirus deaths in New York rose to 778 on Monday after declining for two days but noted other indicators continue to be more encouraging.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund warned the global economy could see the worst recession since the Great Depression as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the containment measures adopted to slow the outbreak.

World GDP is set to contract 3 percent this year, thanks to the lockdowns imposed by countries around the world, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook report. The lender expects global GDP to grow 5.8 percent next year.

In a January update to the WEO, the IMF had predicted 3.3 percent global growth this year and a 3.4 percent expansion for next year. In 2019, the world economy grew 2.9 percent.

These projections are based on a scenario that assumes the pandemic will fade in the second half of 2020 and the containment measures can be gradually unwound as economic activity normalizes.

Reports on U.S. retail sales and industrial production in the month of March could attract some attention on Wednesday, although the expected sharp declines may already be priced into the markets.