Treasury yields are lower after reaching multiyear highs, traders weigh latest bond auction

The yield on the 10-year Treasury was relatively unchanged on Thursday as traders digested comments from a top Federal Reserve official along with another long-dated bond auction.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was last down 4 basis points at 5.237% after reaching its highest level since 2002 this week. The 30-year Treasury bond yield fell nearly 5 basis points to 5.614% after trading around a 24-year high recently.

One basis point is equal to 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday that more hikes are needed to bring inflation down after around 5-and-a-half years above the central bank's 2% target, but suggested rates did not need to rise immediately.

"The hikes do not need to come at consecutive meetings," Waller told a Central Bank of Turkey forum in Istanbul. "But they should be in place in an acceptable period of time."

His comments initially sent yields higher on the day. However, rates gave back those advances after President Donald Trump said the U.S. won't attack Iran until after the November midterm election. Yields also pulled back after a solid 30-year Treasury bond auction.

The department sold $22 billion in 30-year paper, with indirect bidders — which include central banks — scooping up 72.3% of the sale. That's above a 10-auction average of 68%. Direct bidders, including institutional investors, took 20.9% of the auction, just below an average of 22%. The yield at auction ease 5.618%.

That marks the final auction of the week. The department sold $58 billion in 3-year notes on Tuesday and another $39 billion in 10-year notes.

Thursday's sale "was decent but nowhere close to as good as the 10 yr auction yesterday," wrote Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer of One Point BFG Wealth Partners.

— CNBC's Brianna Bernath contributed reporting.