10-year Treasury yield is little changed near two-year highs

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was little changed Wednesday near a fresh multi-year high.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was near flat at 2.372% by 7:10 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was 1.1 basis points higher at 2.603%. Yields move inversely to prices and 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%.

The 10-year yield at the highs of the session hit 2.417%, its highest level since May 2019.

The benchmark rate has surged since the beginning of the week, when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell offered hawkish remarks when discussing how the central bank would combat inflation.

Powell said that the Fed would be prepared to be even more aggressive with rate hikes than the central bank had forecast. Last week, the Fed announced its first rate hike since 2018.

The Fed chair is scheduled to make another speech on Wednesday at 8 a.m. ET on emerging challenges for central bank governors in a digital world, at the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Summit 2022.

Investors also continue to monitor developments in Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden is set to travel to Brussels on Wednesday and on Thursday will attend an emergency NATO summit, meet G-7 leaders, and address EU leaders at a meeting of the European Council.

Biden and his European counterparts will announce new sanctions against Russia and new measures to tighten existing sanctions during his trip to Brussels this week, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.

In terms of data releases due out on Wednesday, February’s new home sales figures are slated to come out at 10 a.m. ET.

Auctions are slated to be held on Wednesday for $30 billion of 119-day bills, $16 billion of 20-year bonds and $22 billion of 2-year floating-rate notes.

— CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this market report.