Treasury yields move higher as investors await key wholesale inflation data

Treasury yields rose Thursday as traders awaited U.S. wholesale inflation data, followed by consumer price data Friday and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision next week. The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield, a key benchmark for mortgage borrowing, auto loans and credit card debt, increased more than 2 basis points to 4.867%, its highest level since November 2023. The 2-year note yield, typically more sensitive to near-term Federal Reserve decisions, reached 4.449%, its strongest level since July 2024. The 30-year Treasury bond yield, which moves with broader geopolitical risks, gained more than 2 basis points to 5.315%. A basis point equals 0.01%, and bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. The rise in yields therefore added pressure to fixed-income valuations. Yields also increased Wednesday after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department would buy back $6 billion of longer-dated government bonds. Investors are assessing whether incoming inflation data will reinforce expectations for interest rates. FactSet consensus estimates call for the Producer Price Index, which measures wholesale goods and services, to show a 5.4% year-over-year increase in August, accelerating from the 4.7% increase in the previous report. Energy markets added to inflation concerns as renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran pushed crude prices higher. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 1.5% to $97.45 per barrel early Thursday, while international benchmark Brent crude gained 0.9% to $102.16. President Donald Trump said energy prices would come “tumbling downward” after the midterm elections and that the war in the Middle East would conclude “immediately after the election.”