(New throughout, adds 30-year auction results and comments, updates prices) By Karen Brettell NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury yields rose on Thursday after the Treasury Department saw soft demand for a sale of new 30-year bonds, but they held below highs reached earlier this week after inflation data on Wednesday disappointed. The $27 billion in 30-year bonds sold at a high yield of 1.933%, around one basis point higher than where they traded before the auction. It came after the Treasury saw strong demand for $41 billion in 10-year notes on Wednesday and $58 billion in three-year notes on Tuesday. “The auction was on the weak side definitely, especially compared to the three- and 10-year legs earlier in the week,” said Kim Rupert, managing director of global fixed income analysis at Action Economics in San Francisco. Thirty-year bond yields rose to 1.948%, after trading as low as 1.898%. On Monday, they briefly rose above 2% for the first time in a year. Benchmark 10-year yields rose to 1.160%. Earlier, they traded at 1.132%, and are holding below a 11-month high of 1.200% reached on Monday. Yields dropped on Wednesday after data showed that the core consumer price index, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, was unchanged in January, missing economists’ expectations for a 0.2% increase. Investors have been betting that inflation will rise as the economy returns to normal and as the U.S. government prepares new fiscal stimulus. “Yesterday’s CPI took a little bit of steam out of the reflation trade. It feels like we are trying to attempt to find a little bit of a range here,” said Justin Lederer, an interest rate strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York. Breakeven inflation rates were last at 2.19%, after rising to 2.22% before the CPI data on Wednesday, the highest since 2014. That means investors are now pricing in average annual inflation of 2.19% for the next 10 years.. The next major catalyst that could push yields above their recent highs will be U.S. fiscal stimulus. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that she expects lawmakers to complete legislation based on President Joe Biden"s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill by the end of February. “I think the market is going to wait and see what happens with the stimulus package,” said Rupert. Data on Thursday showed that the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as the labor market continued to tread water. Inflation expectations have also risen as the Federal Reserve commits to maintaining its zero interest rate policy and unprecedented bond purchases for the foreseeable future. The U.S. central bank is unlikely to pull back on its bond-buying stimulus this year, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday repeated his pledge for continued loose monetary policy. February 11 Thursday 3:00PM New York / 2000 GMT Price Current Net Yield % Change (bps) Three-month bills 0.04 0.0406 0.000 Six-month bills 0.055 0.0558 0.000 Two-year note 100-7/256 0.1111 -0.002 Three-year note 99-208/256 0.1878 0.000 Five-year note 99-146/256 0.4626 0.007 Seven-year note 99-160/256 0.8055 0.007 10-year note 99-172/256 1.1599 0.008 20-year bond 93-132/256 1.7652 0.021 30-year bond 92-188/256 1.9479 0.024 DOLLAR SWAP SPREADS Last (bps) Net Change (bps) U.S. 2-year dollar swap 8.75 0.00 spread U.S. 3-year dollar swap 9.50 0.25 spread U.S. 5-year dollar swap 12.00 0.25 spread U.S. 10-year dollar swap 6.75 -0.75 spread U.S. 30-year dollar swap -20.50 0.25 spread (Editing by Kirsten Donovan and David Gregorio)