2017.11.1715:21:00UTC+00Treasuries Close Roughly Flat Following Choppy Trading Session

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

After seeing initial weakness, bond prices rebounded in morning trading but pulled back going into the close. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 2.354 percent.

The choppy trading on the day came as traders expressed uncertainty about the outlook for Republican lawmakers' tax reform plans.

While the House approved their tax reform bill on Thursday, significant differences with the Senate version could still hinder final passage of the legislation.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a much bigger than expected jump in housing starts in the month of October.

The report said housing starts spiked by 13.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.290 million in October from a revised 1.135 million in September.

Economists had expected housing starts to climb to an annual rate of 1.185 million from the 1.127 million originally reported for the previous month.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, also surged up by 5.9 percent to a rate of 1.297 million in October from a revised 1.225 million in September.

Next week's trading may be somewhat subdued due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday, although reports on existing home sales and durable goods orders are still likely to attract attention.