Treasury yields rose Thursday following comments from Federal Reserve speakers hinting at further interest rate hikes to come, and as markets digested key data from the housing sector.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was up nearly eight basis points at 3.773%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury was at 4.450%.
Yields and prices have an inverted relationship. One basis point is equivalent to 0.01%.
Yields rose sharply following comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard, who said Thursday that interest rate hikes from the central bank have had "only limited effects" on observed inflation.
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Kansas City Fed President Esther George said to The Wall Street Journal Wednesday that she's "looking at a labor market that is so tight, I don't know how you continue to bring this level of inflation down without having some real slowing, and maybe we even have contraction in the economy to get there."
Housing starts slid in October, falling 4.2% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.425 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Still, that came in better than the 1.41 million units expected, according to Dow Jones consensus estimates.
Markets also continued to digest recent economic data, including Wednesday's retail sales figures which came in hotter than expected and reflected solid consumer spending despite rising prices.
