The benchmark 10-year yield was last up 1.8 basis points at 1.1254%.
The fact they are staying flexible and not acting quickly on the idea of 'oh low rates are great, let's borrow while we can' should be a bigger positive for Treasuries over time.
The 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities' breakeven inflation rate, which briefly slipped below 2% last week, was last at 2.024%, indicating the market expects inflation to average more than 2% a year for the next decade, above the current pace of inflation.
Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30.53 points, or 0.1%, to 30,990.53, the S&P 500 lost 1.52 points.
Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index added 0.79%, at 1,575.88. The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.8% after Swiss wealth manager UBS posted a surge in quarterly net profit.
Treasury yields traded lower after a strong auction on Thursday of $15 billion in 10-year TIPS as investors sought protection on expectations of rising inflation.
A closely watched part of the yield curve measuring the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes was last down 1.32 basis points at 96.93 basis points.
Retail sales dropped 0.7% last month, the Commerce Department said. Data for November was revised down to show sales declining 1.4% instead of 1.1% as previously reported.
This morning's disappointing retail sales figures reinforced the idea that more stimulus will be needed.
The market was primed for higher rates today for continued increase in yields today in anticipation of what Biden is going to say tonight, until we hit jobless claims.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 181,000 to a seasonally adjusted 965,000 for the week ended Jan. 9, the highest since late August.
Investors awaiting an auction of 30-year government debt shrugged off a report showing an increase in US consumer prices in December amid rising gasoline costs.
In the 12 months through December the CPI advanced 1.4% after increasing 1.2% in November.
Investors are watching to see if the recent rise in yields will lure buyers to today's $38 billion sale of 10-year notes.
The Georgia Senate run-off elections really changed the landscape for the outlook pretty significantly as there is now potentially very significant additional stimulus.
Biden also called for raising the minimum wage to $15, a campaign promise, and for sending out $2,000 in direct cash payments.
Benchmark 10-year notes rose as high as 1.134%, the highest since March 20. The yield curve between two-year and 10-year notes steepened to 99.7 basis points.
President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on Jan. 20 with Democrats able to control both houses of Congress, has promised "trillions" in extra pandemic-relief spending.
As a result, the euro fell 0.5% to $1.2155, its lowest since Dec. 21, down nearly 2% from a high of $1.2349 last week.
Breakeven rates on 10-year TIPS, which measure expected annual inflation for the next 10 years, were last at 1.967%, little changed from 1.968% on Thursday.
Benchmark 10-year yields fell to one-and-a-half week lows early on Monday as countries shut off travel ties with the U.K.
BioNTech is testing the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with Pfizer against the mutation as it prepares to send 12.5 mln doses to EU countries by the end of year.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress were scrambling to pass a new round of aid after months of inaction.
The US government would be required to issue more debt to pay for stimulus and the supply would be expected to drive Treasury prices lower and yields higher.