US Treasurys hold lower after Janet Yellen remarks

U.S. government debt prices were lower on Wednesday as investors digested strong inflation data and remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen .

In prepared remarks, Yellen said the U.S. economy is closing in on the central bank's goals, giving it impetus to start reducing the extreme levels of support it has provided over the past decade.

"Right now our foot is still pressing on the gas pedal, though, as I noted, we have eased back a bit," Yellen said.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note (U.S.:US10Y) was higher at around 2.408 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 3 percent. Yields move inversely to prices.

On the data front, Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent in December, showing a 2.1 percent year-over-year increase, which is above the Fed's inflation target of 2 percent.

Other economic data released Wednesday included industrial production, which grew 0.8 percent in December , and the NAHB survey for January, which showed homebuilder sentiment pull back slightly. The Fed also released its latest Beige Book, which said that a pickup in manufacturing, "widespread" reports of labor shortages and improving business investment set the stage for the central bank's December rate hike .

—CNBC's Jeff Cox contributed to this report.

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