The 10-year Treasury yield edged down on Thursday as investors monitored a fresh batch of economic data and comments around the path of interest rates from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
The 10-year Treasury yield slipped 2 basis points to 4.437%, but still sat near a 4-month high. The yield on the 2-year Treasury added around 4 basis points to 4.326%.
Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point equals 0.01%.
Those moves come after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday afternoon that there's no signs the central bank needs to quickly cut interest rates. His commentary comes after the Fed last week lowered the borrowing cost, with traders seeing a decent chance of another trim in December.
"The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates," Powell said in remarks for a speech to business leaders in Dallas. "The strength we are currently seeing in the economy gives us the ability to approach our decisions carefully."
Before that, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler pointed to "considerable" progress on inflation in remarks Thursday morning.
The speeches come as investors and economists scrutinize what President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House could mean for U.S. interest rates.
Money Report
It also follows inflation and employment data released Thursday morning. The producer price index for October increased 0.2% for the month, matching estimates from economists polled by Dow Jones. Initial jobless claims for the week that ended Nov. 9 came in at 217,000, a drop of 4,000 from the previous week, which pointed to a still-strong economy.
— CNBC's Sarah Min contributed to this report.
