Treasury prices traded mixed Wednesday, pausing in their selloff as investors got some relief from a report showing mild inflation during April.

The Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.2 percent last month, compared to March’s 0.3 percent increase. A flat reading for energy _ after a jump in natural gas prices was offset by a decline in gasoline costs _ made up for a 0.9 percent jump in food costs.

Stripping out volatile food and energy prices, core inflation edged up 0.1 percent, less than expected and below March’s 0.2 percent rise.

“All in all, it was solid numbers for the bond market,” said Kevin Giddis, managing director of fixed income at Morgan Keegan. He said Federal Reserve has pointed to inflation as a growing concern, but “under their measurement, we don’t see a lot of it.”

Worries about accelerating inflation have recently been dampening demand for government securities, particularly long bonds, because rising costs make fixed-income assets lose their value over time. Accelerating inflation could also spur the Fed to raise interest rates later in the year, another factor that would make Treasurys less attractive.

In midday trading, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 1/32 to 99 23/32 and its yield was at 3.91 percent, the same as late Tuesday, according to BGCantor Market Data. Bond prices move in the opposite direction of yields.

The 30-year long bond rose 12/32 to 96 9/32 and yielded 4.60 percent, down from 4.63 percent late Tuesday.

The 2-year note slipped 1/32 to 99 9/32 and its yield rose to 2.50 percent from 2.48 percent.

“Inflation came out slightly below consensus, which relieves the Fed from some heavy weight,” said Christian Menegatti, lead analyst for the economic and financial Web site RGEMonitor. “We shouldn’t be worried about rate hikes ... My feeling is that the Fed is very comfortable where it is. Today’s number sort of gives a breath of fresh air to the Fed.”

Still, the data was not enough to spur a rally in the Treasury market, due to a surge in the stock market _ which drew investors away from safe government securities to riskier equities _ and the Fed selling $2.5 billion in issues maturing from late 2013 to early 2015.

On Tuesday, Treasury prices fell on signs of modestly better-than-expected consumer spending.