U.S. Treasury yields ticked up on Tuesday as investors looked to comments from Federal Reserve speakers and inflation data that could provide hints about the outlook for the economy and monetary policy.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury closed slightly higher at 3.528%. The 2-year Treasury yield climbed about 2.5 basis points to 4.039%.
Yields and prices have an inverted relationship. One basis point equals 0.01%.
Investors are bracing themselves for the latest consumer and producer price index reports, which are due on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. According to a Dow Jones survey, economists are expecting April's CPI print to reflect a 0.4% increase on a month-over-month basis and 5% on a year-over-year basis.
The data could provide fresh hints about the Fed's next policy moves, especially regarding interest rates, which Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said last week would be data-dependent.
After the Fed's meeting last week, which saw interest rates hiked by 25 basis points, the central bank indicated that its rate-hiking campaign may be coming to an end.
Rate cuts are, however, unlikely to be announced soon, Powell said in a post-meeting press conference, sparking concerns about elevated rates dragging the U.S. economy into a recession.