US Treasury Yields Rise as Investors Digest Fed Chair Comments and Economic Data

U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday, as investors weighed more data and new comments from the Federal Reserve's newly appointed chairman.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note — the main benchmark for mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt — was 4 basis points higher at 4.463% at 11:23 a.m. ET.

The shorter-term 2-year note added almost 2 basis points to trade at around 4.154%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury was up by 6 basis points at 4.965%.

Newly appointed Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh was speaking at the European Central Bank's annual policy forum in Sintra, Portugal, on Wednesday. Investors were monitoring the talk for clues on what lies ahead for the Fed's monetary policy agenda.

"There's a lot of late breaking news on a series of these things, and we get into that room and shut the door, we're going to have the good debate," the central bank leader said. "But I don't have much more for you than that."

He also declined to give hints on policy ahead of the July meeting, but he noted that "we've seen that prices are too high."

Markets are currently pricing in a 70.6% chance of the Fed keeping rates steady at its July meeting, and a 63% chance that it enacts at least a quarter-point hike at the subsequent FOMC meeting in September, according to the CME's FedWatch tool.

Traders also weighed new employment data, with private payrolls rising by 98,000 in June — less than a Dow Jones consensus of 110,000. The numbers come ahead of the government's monthly jobs report due Thursday morning.