(Adds two-year auction results, quote, data, updates prices) By Karen Brettell NEW YORK, Aug 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury yields rose on Tuesday as investors waited on comments on Friday by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for any new indications on when the central bank is likely to begin paring bond purchases. Powell is due to speak at the Fed’s annual economic symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The event on Aug. 27 will take place virtually and not in person due to the spread of COVID-19 in the county, which has reduced expectations that any major announcement will be made at the event. Still, investors will be watching to see if Powell indicates that a reduction in bond purchases is imminent, and whether he expresses any new concerns about economic growth due to the rise in COVID-19 Delta variant cases. “The market has convinced itself that the taper is sooner rather than later… if Powell doesn’t repeat that message I think you’re going to see traders confused,” said Jim Vogel, an interest rate strategist at FHN Financial in Memphis, Tennessee. Minutes from the Fed"s July meeting released on Wednesday showed that the bulk of the central bank"s policy-setting committee expect the Fed will start trimming its bond-buying program later this year. Optimism over the economic recovery has faded since July as economic data has missed expectations, however, and consumer sentiment earlier this month dropped to its lowest in a decade. "We got so used to exuberant data and broad forecasts for continued growth and demand that was going to push inflation higher, and that seems to be slowly leaking out around the world over the last three or four weeks," said Vogel. Benchmark 10-year yields rose three and a half basis points to 1.290%. The yields are in a range after falling from a one-month high of 1.379% on Aug. 12, while holding above a six-month low of 1.127% reached earlier this month. Two-year note yields fell after the Treasury saw strong demand for a $60 billion sale of the notes, which sold at a high yield of 0.242%, around one basis point below where they had traded before the auction. Two-year yields were last at 0.226%. The government will also sell $61 billion in five-year notes on Wednesday and $62 billion in seven-year notes on Thursday. Data on Tuesday showed that sales of new U.S. single-family homes increased in July after three straight monthly declines, but housing market momentum is slowing as surging housing prices amid tight supply sideline some first-time buyers from the market. Trading volumes are light this week with many traders and investors out for August summer vacations. August 24 Tuesday 3:03PM New York / 1903 GMT Price Current Net Yield % Change (bps) Three-month bills 0.0575 0.0583 0.000 Six-month bills 0.05 0.0507 0.000 Two-year note 99-206/256 0.2264 0.000 Three-year note 99-202/256 0.4465 0.009 Five-year note 99-46/256 0.7949 0.023 Seven-year note 99-128/256 1.075 0.028 10-year note 99-160/256 1.2902 0.035 20-year bond 98-180/256 1.8278 0.037 30-year bond 102-24/256 1.9079 0.036 DOLLAR SWAP SPREADS Last (bps) Net Change (bps) U.S. 2-year dollar swap 9.50 0.75 spread U.S. 3-year dollar swap 10.25 0.50 spread U.S. 5-year dollar swap 8.50 0.50 spread U.S. 10-year dollar swap 0.75 0.00 spread U.S. 30-year dollar swap -29.00 -0.50 spread (Reporting by Karen Brettell; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Marguerita Choy) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.