U.S. Treasury yields were higher on Thursday as investors assessed what could be ahead for interest rates and digested remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury was trading about 7 basis points higher at 3.795%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury was up by 8 basis points to 4.789%.
Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point is equivalent to 0.01%.
Treasurys
On Thursday, Powell said policymakers remain committed to using rates to bring down inflation, but will move more slowly than they have been.
"I think the data will tell us what to do," Powell told members of the Senate Banking Committee. "I think the point of our ... last meeting was really to moderate the pace of our decision making on this, because you know, it was very important to move quickly last year, and we did. It's not so important now."
Elsewhere, the Bank of England announced a surprise 50 basis point rate hike Thursday, which is its 13th increase in a row. The decision follows a higher than expected inflation reading of 8.7% for May, which was published Wednesday.
Investors digested higher-than-expected weekly jobless claims data Thursday morning. The Labor Department reported first-time filings for unemployment benefits totaled 264,000 for the week ended June 17. Economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting a total of 256,000.
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.
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.
— CNBC's Jeff Cox and Elliot Smith contributed to this report.