U.S. Treasury yields moved higher on Wednesday after key inflation report showed a faster-than-expected rise in prices.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 5 basis points to 1.686%, hitting the highest lvel since April 13. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond gained 3 basis points to 2.386%. Yields move inversely to prices. (A basis point is equal to 0.01 percentage points).
April’s Consumer Price Index rose 4.2%, a faster-than-expected rise in prices and the biggest year-over-year increase since 2008. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones predicted a rise of 3.6%.
The monthly rise was 0.8%, compared with expectations of 0.2%.
The report represents an acceleration from the previous month, when they CPI rose 0.6% in March from the previous month and 2.6% from a year ago, according to the Department of Labor.
Rising inflation has been a growing concern for investors, though Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said any increase in prices should be transitory.
Jonathan Bell, chief investment officer at Stanhope Capital, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday that the Fed would say much of the expected jump in inflation is actually just “base effects,” which is comparing it to the lower prices seen in the past year amid the pandemic.
And while Bell did acknowledge the presence of base effects, he argued that “still the underlying inflationary pressures are going to be there over the summer months.”
Meanwhile, Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida is due to make a speech on U.S. economic outlook and monetary policy at the National Association for Business Economics International Symposium at 9 a.m. ET.
Auctions are scheduled to be held Wednesday for $35 billion of 119-day bills and $41 billion of 10-year notes.
— CNBC’s Maggie Fitzgerald contributed to this market report.
