investors await key economic data

U.S. Treasury yields were little changed on Thursday, as investors looked to key economic reports and concerns persisted over the outlook for monetary policy, particularly high interest rates.

At 4:08 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was last up by less than one basis point to 4.6282%, lingering at levels last seen in 2007. The yield on the 2-year Treasury was last down by less than one basis point to 5.1354%.

Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point equals 0.01%.

A series of key data is due out before the end of the week. Pending home sales figures for August, weekly initial jobless claims and final second-quarter GDP are expected Thursday. The August personal consumption expenditure price index — one of the Fed’s preferred inflation measures — is due on Friday.

Investors are looking to the data for hints about the state of the economy and the path for interest rates ahead. It comes after the Federal Reserve earlier this month said that it expects another rate hike to be announced this year and anticipate that rates will stay higher for longer.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday that he was not sure if interest rates have been raised enough to successfully tackle inflation. If possible, the Fed would still like to avoid a hard landing, Kashkari added.

The prospect of continuing inflationary pressures and rates staying elevated for longer has prompted renewed fears about a potential recession.

Investors will be paying close attention to data that may provide an indication of the state of the economy and scan Thursday and Friday comments from Fed officials for clues about the economic expectations of policymakers.