Clarida said he could envision a taper in bond purchases later this year, and that the U.S. economy is on track to meet hurdles the central bank has set for raising interest rates. Clarida also said he was surprised by how much global government bond yields have fallen, but said he does not think the decline was driven by lower inflation expectations. The two-year US2YT=RR U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was up a basis point at 0.1841%.