Short-term U.S. Treasury yields moved higher on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, in a widely anticipated speech, underscored the central bank's need to curb price pressures, helping to temper some market concerns about its credibility in fighting inflation.

During Warsh's address at the annual Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming, short-dated Treasuries declined while longer-dated maturities advanced. The two-year yield rose 5 basis points to 4.28%, while the 30-year yield slipped 1 basis point to 5.19%. Both moves reflect growing expectations that the Fed may need to lift short-term interest rates.

Bond traders have harbored doubts about Warsh's policy stance since his first press conference in June, when he emphasized the need to push down inflation with a broadly hawkish tone. U.S. inflation has remained above the Fed's 2% target since the global economy emerged from the pandemic shock in 2021.

However, after the Fed held rates steady again in July and Warsh declined to offer a clear signal on whether a rate hike could occur this year, long-term Treasury yields climbed sharply. That move came as traders demanded higher compensation for the risk of inflation staying elevated.

On Friday, Warsh cautioned that inflation has not shown a meaningful slowdown, stating that policymakers must be convinced price growth is decelerating, or else there is "more work to do" for the central bank. He also reiterated the Fed's commitment to restoring inflation to its 2% target, describing the goal as "firm and fixed."