An avalanche of hot inflation data over the past month has lifted US borrowing costs to the highest point in a decade and a half, intensifying debate over how much further interest rates must rise to rein in soaring consumer prices.
The yield on the two-year Treasury note hit 4.94 per cent on Thursday, a level last reached in 2007 before the global financial crisis. Yields on 10-year and 30-year Treasuries this week broke through 4 per cent for the first time since November.
The moves follow weeks of unrelenting data showing inflation in the US running hotter than economists had expected, putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to redouble efforts to tamp down growth by raising interest rates.