By Sheila Mullan

NEW YORK, March 25 (MNI) - Prices of the U.S. Treasuries ended Thursday lower after a choppy bear-steepening day with mixed trading flows, and a weak $32-billion 7-year note auction, said traders.

Treasuries saw bear-steepening in 2/10-year, 2/5-year and 2/30-year yield curves and limped lower into the close despite late bargain-hunting buying.

By Steven K. Beckner

(MNI) - To Wall Street's delight, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled once more that the Fed will keep interest rates at very low levels for some time to come in congressional testimony Thursday.

Bernanke said there will come a time when the Fed will need to tighten its unprecedentedly easy money policies and said the Fed has the tools to do so. But he made clear he is no hurry to raise rates.

By Dennis Pettit

NEW YORK, March 25 (MNI) - The dollar racked up another day of solid gains Thursday as a surge in U.S. Treasury yields cemented trends already in place, those of a weakening euro and yen.

Euro-dollar was changing hands at $1.3295 in afternoon dealings Thursday, in the lower reaches of the day's $1.3278/1.3388 U.S. hours range, those highs and lows of the session seen within a few hours of each other in afternoon dealings after the euro began the day around $1.3363.

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) - The Senate concluded nearly a day of non-stop voting Thursday by passing the budget reconciliation bill.

The Senate approved the reconciliation bill on a 56 to 43 vote. All Republicans voted against the bill. All Democrats, except for three, voted for the bill.

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday said that she expects the House later in the day to approve a revised version of the final health care reform bill, sending it to President Obama for his signature and bringing to an end the raucous year-long debate.

By Steven K. Beckner

(MNI) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that the economy continues to need "the support of accommodative monetary policies" after echoing the Federal Open Market Committee's judgment last week that the federal funds rate will need to stay very low "for an extended period."

Bernanke said the Fed will need to begin tightening policy at some point but only "as the expansion matures."

By Steven K. Beckner

(MNI) - Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Sandra Pianalto Thursday said that "disinflationary" forces and the prospect of only "gradual" recovery with continued high unemployment will likely continue to warrant "exceptionally low" interest rates "for an extended period."

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) - Senate Majority Harry Reid said Thursday that the Senate will resume voting on Republican amendments to the health care bill and then will vote on final passage of the bill at 2 p.m.

The Senate spent more than eight hours voting Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, ending just before 3 a.m.