After failing to sustain an early move to the upside, treasuries gave back ground over the course of the trading session on Thursday.
Bond prices pulled back well off their highs of the session before ending the day roughly flat. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by less than a basis point to 2.731 percent.
Treasuries initially moved higher as traders went bargain hunting following the pullback seen over the past few sessions.
Assessments indicating the three-day meeting between U.S. and China officials did not result in any significant breakthroughs on trade also increased the appeal of bonds.
Buying interest waned shortly after the open, however, as traders remain optimistic the U.S. and China will eventually reach a long-term trade deal.
Bond prices pulled back further off their highs following the release of the results of the Treasury Department's auction of $16 billion worth of thirty-year bonds, which attracted below average demand.
The thirty-year bond auction drew a high yield of 3.035 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.19, while the ten previous thirty-year bond auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.32.
The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.
Traders also kept an eye on remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who reiterated the Fed will be patient in raising interest rates further, noting the central bank is "waiting and watching."
Powell also said during a discussion at the Economic Club of Washington that the Fed's balance sheet will be "substantially smaller than it is now."
Trading on Friday may be impacted by reaction to a closely watched report on consumer price inflation in the month of December.
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