Treasury yields rise amid mounting U.S.-Iran tensions

Cultura Travel | Walter Zerla | Getty ImagesTreasury yields rose Thursday as oil prices remained elevated on mounting tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note — the key benchmark for U.S. government borrowing — rose more than 1 basis point to 4.559%.The 2-year Treasury note yield, which more closely tracks short-term Federal Reserve interest rate policy, advanced more than 2 basis points to 4.153%. The longer-dated 30-year Treasury bond yield added less than 1 basis point to 5.087%. One basis point is equal to 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.Oil prices were little changed Thursday, as traders monitored fresh threats to tanker passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures were marginally lower to above $84 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures fell slightly to top $78 a barrel. The latest raft of economic data continued to show the U.S. consumer holding up in the face of higher pricing pressures. Jobless claims for the week ending July 11 came in at a seasonally adjusted 208,000, lower than the 218,000 expected by economists polled by Dow Jones. Retail sales came in line with expectations, up 0.2%.Bond markets were given a disinflationary boost on Wednesday after the produce price index dropped 0.3% in June, a softer reading than anticipated. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the measure to be unchanged on the month.Even with the latest inflation reading, Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan still called for "modestly" higher interest rates, asserting on Thursday that "every month of above-target inflation has compounded the strain on Americans' budgets."The FOMC voting member did not specifically say that she would advocate for a hike at the central bank's next meeting this month, however.— CNBC's Jeff Cox and Sean Conlon also contributed to this report.