TREASURIES-Bonds fall for 3rd day on easing credit concerns

(Adds strategist comment, updates prices; changes byline)

* Bonds fall as bank sector earnings ease credit concerns

* GSE filings also spur traders to riskier investments

* Benchmark yields have biggest up week since mid-June

By Chris Reese

NEW YORK, July 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries prices fell on Friday for the third day in a row as better-than-expected earnings in the bank sector prompted investors to turn away from lower-risk debt.

Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the largest U.S. bank, posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday, a day after JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) posted a profit above Wall Street's expectations.

Also, mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) issued preliminary filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a step toward raising $5.5 billion in capital, which it had promised its regulator. Shares of Freddie Mac and rival Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) rose for a third consecutive day.

"For Treasuries it is pretty much an unwinding of the safe-haven trade," said Kim Rupert, managing director of global fixed-income analysis at Action Economics in San Francisco. "The markets have gotten a sense of relief that things have not gotten any worse, and some of the financial reports from the banks have not been as bad as they perhaps could have been."