2019.06.1415:20:00UTC+00Treasuries Close Roughly Flat Following Lackluster Session

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

Bond prices spent most of the trading day lingering near the unchanged line. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by less than a basis point to 2.093 percent.

The lackluster performance came as traders digested a Commerce Department report showing a substantial upward revision to retail sales data for April.

The Commerce Department said retail sales climbed by 0.5 percent in May after rising by an upwardly revised 0.3 percent in April.

Economists had expected retail sales to increase by 0.6 percent compared to the 0.2 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.

Closely watched core retail sales, which exclude autos, gasoline, building materials and food services, climbed by 0.5 percent in May. The April reading was upwardly revised from no change to a 0.4 percent gain.

FTN Financial chief economist Chris Low called the April revisions the "real story" of the report, noting the "trajectory of second quarter consumption just transformed from ho-hum to solid."

"Needless to say, this is important," Low said. "The collapse of consumption in Q1 and failure of consumption to recover in April was one of the most compelling reasons justifying an interest rate cut."

"There are still other reasons, of course. Business confidence has tumbled. Business investment has slowed. Manufacturing is in trouble," he added. "But consumers, it seems, are alright, which means the risk of recession is diminished."

The Federal Reserve also released a report showing a bigger than expected increase in industrial production in May, although the University of Michigan said its reading on consumer sentiment dropped in June amid concerns about higher tariffs. Next week's trading is likely to be driven by reaction to the announcement of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

Most economists expect the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged, although the central bank is expected to provide indications that it is considering lowering rates in the near future.

The Fed decision is likely to overshadow some ordinarily closely watched housing data, including reports on homebuilder confidence, housing starts, and existing home sales.