U.S. Treasury yields climbed Thursday after hotter-than-expected wholesale inflation report worried traders about its potential impact on Federal Reserve policy going forward.
Yields on the 10-year Treasury note rose about 11 basis points to 4.298%, while the 2-year Treasury yield was last at 4.69%, up about 6.5 basis points.
Yields and prices move in opposite directions, and one basis point equals 0.01%.
The producer price index rose 0.6% in February. Core PPI, which strips out food and energy, gained 0.3%. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected an increase of 0.3% for the headline number and a 0.2% advance for core PPI.
It marks the last major data release before the Fed’s meeting March 19-20. Investors are widely expecting interest rates to be left unchanged, but are looking for fresh hints as to when rate cuts might begin and how many are likely this year.
Policymakers have said they are looking for further evidence that inflation is returning to the central bank’s 2% target range before making any moves in monetary policy.
Earlier this week, the consumer price index for February also came in slightly higher than expected, rising 0.4% on a monthly basis and 3.2% from a year earlier.
