U.S. Government bonds narrowly mixed ahead of Fed policymakers’ speech

The U.S. Treasuries traded narrowly mixed Monday as investors await Federal Reserve policymakers’ speech in an attempt to estimate the Fed's most likely policy step during a relatively quiet session that saw no data of great significance.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 1-1/2 basis points to 1.724 percent, the yield on long-term 30-year Treasury fell 2 basis points to 2.472 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year note climbed 1/2 basis point to 0.832 percent by 12:00 GMT.

Markets now look ahead to a greater flow of data in the week ahead, highlighted by Conference Board/University of Michigan consumer confidence, durable goods orders, all likely to be overshadowed by the advance third quarter GDP release on Friday. We expect it to increase 2.2 percent.

Advance Q3 GDP data could go a long way in bolstering the case for such a move, showing some sign that the economy remains on track. However, we do not expect the overall debate of how aggressive (or not aggressive) the Fed should be as we move into 2017. Additionally, markets receive 2-year note, 5-year note and 7-year note auctions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures traded 9.50 points higher at 2,144.25 by 12:20 GMT.