According to global economic analysis, bond yields rose sharply in the U.S. and several Western European countries. The U.S. 10-year yield went from about 4.4% at end-June to around 4.66% recently, read as reflecting fears of renewed inflation.

Bond yields are both the funding cost the market demands and a gauge of expectations for future prices and growth. When yields rise, interest burdens grow for governments, firms, and households alike.

Higher yields feed into mortgage and corporate loan rates, affecting the real economy. As funding gets costlier, investment and consumption can pull back.

With the market divided over central banks' direction and the path of prices, yield volatility increased, and attention is likely to fix on inflation data for now.

Changes in the rate environment affect Chinese households worldwide across borrowing, saving, and investing — those with variable-rate loans in particular should check how their interest burden shifts.