U.S. Treasury yields were slightly higher on Thursday as investors assessed what could be ahead for interest rates and digested remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
At 6:36 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was trading more than 3 basis points higher at 3.758%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury was up by 4 basis points to 4.746%.
Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point is equivalent to 0.01%.
Investors considered the path ahead for Fed monetary policy after Powell said on Wednesday that further interest rate hikes are likely as inflation remains too high. His comments echoed the guidance issued by the central bank after its most recent policy meeting last week.
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Policymakers had decided to keep interest rates unchanged but noted that two 25 basis point increases are expected this year. This marked the first pause in the Fed's rate hiking campaign, which has lasted over a year and aims to ease inflationary pressure and cool the economy.
Powell said Wednesday that progress toward these goals has been made, but "the process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go."
On Thursday, Powell will present his semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Senate Banking Committee. Investors will also be looking out for comments from other Fed officials, as well as weekly initial jobless claims data and existing home sales figures for May.
Money Report
Elsewhere, the Bank of England is due to announce an interest rate hike of either 25 or 50 basis points following a higher than expected inflation reading of 8.7% for May, which was published Wednesday.
