Gary Siegel

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $60 billion of four-week bills at a 0.735% high yield, a price of 99.942833.

Texas service sector activity “increased in April, albeit at a slower pace than in March,” according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey.

Service sector activity “improved notably in April,” according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

Manufacturers in the central Atlantic region “were upbeat again in April,” according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index dipped to 20 in April from 22 in March.

The consumer confidence index decreased to 120.3 in April from a revised 124.9 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The S&P/Case-Shiller seasonally adjusted 20-city composite index rose 0.7% in February, unadjusted the index was up 0.4%.

The region's non-manufacturing sector “continued to expand,” this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business, released Tuesday, indicates.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were mixed, as the three-months incurred a 0.820% high rate, unchanged from 0.820% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.955% high rate, up from 0.945% the week before.

The Treasury Department said Monday it will sell $60 billion of four-week discount bills Tuesday.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, “increased for the 10th consecutive month in April,” according to the monthly Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, released Monday.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for March decreased to 0.08 from a downwardly revised 0.27 in February, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday.

The Federal Reserve expectations of three rate hikes this year still stand, Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said in a televised interview Friday.

The next Fed rate hike does not matter as much as fiscal policy, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said Friday.

Existing home sales gained 4.4% to a seasonally adjusted 5.71 million-unit rate in March from a revised 3.9% decline to 5.47 million sales pace the previous month, the National Association of Realtors announced Friday.

The Treasury Department Thursday auctioned $16 billion of five-year inflation-indexed notes with a 0.125% coupon, at a negative 0.049% high yield, an adjusted price of 101.002153.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it will auction $39 billion 91-day bills and $33 billion 182-day discount bills Monday.

The composite index of Leading Economic Indicators was up 0.4% in March following a revised 0.5% increase in February, first reported as a 0.6% gain, the Conference Board reported Thursday.

Three rate hikes remain “a good baseline,” although depending on the economy it may be more or less, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan said in a televised interview Thursday.

The region's manufacturing sector expanded in April, but at a slower pace than in March,this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.

Although the U.S. has recovered nicely from the great recession, the economic growth rate must rise, Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome H. Powell said Thursday.