US 10-year treasury yield retreats from overnight highs

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note has backed-off from the overnight high of 2.92 percent to 2.9 percent in Asia.

The yield jumped from 2.86 percent to 2.92 percent in the US session after the new Fed Chairman Jerome Powell sounded unambiguously optimistic about the economy. The response from the bond markets indicates investors have begun pricing-in a possibility of faster Fed tightening following Powell's comments.

The yield could rise to 3 percent if the data due later today shows the US economy expanded at a faster rate in the fourth quarter than previously reported.