By Ben Eisen, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices fell Friday, despite a revision downward in last quarter’s gross domestic product, as the market continues to assess the pace of economic growth.
The Commerce Department revised down its estimate of GDP in the fourth quarter to 2.4% from an earlier reading of 3.2%. Despite the downward revision, which reflected less consumer spending, the data matched expectations of economists polled by MarketWatch.
James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, said in a television interview Friday morning that the data doesn’t shake his confidence in the economy. “I’m not sure it makes me any less optimistic about 2014,” Bullard said on CNBC.
After the data, the 10-year Treasury note 10_YEAR +1.17% yield, which rises as prices fall, was up 3 basis points at 2.673%. The rise in yields comes after three days of declines, with the benchmark yield remaining largely range-bound.
The 30-year bond 30_YEAR +0.50% yield rose 1.5 basis points to 3.609% and the 5-year note 5_YEAR +2.62% yield rose 4 basis points to 1.526%.
Other data on the calendar Friday include a Chicago PMI business conditions report at 9:45 a.m. Eastern, a University of Michigan consumer sentiment report at 9:55 a.m., and pending home sales at 10 a.m.
The market continues to express skepticism that weaker than expected numbers indicate a slowdown in underlying economic growth. Soft data have been chalked up to cold weather, which is thought to temporarily put a damper on growth.
Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, echoed the market’s optimistic tone on Friday, saying that it will take a few months to understand how much the weather is interfering with growth. He said the economic outlook is still bright.
