10- and 30-year bond yields trading at 24-year highs
The 10- and 30-year U.S. Treasury bond yields hit 24-year highs during Wednesday morning trading, as the market sell-off persists. The 10-year note topped 5.36 percent earlier in the day, the highest mark since April 2002. That month, the 10-year bond yield reached a closing peak of 5.48 percent. The 30-year bond yield, meanwhile, exceeded…
The 10- and 30-year U.S. Treasury bond yields hit 24-year highs during Wednesday morning trading, as the market sell-off persists. The 10-year note topped 5.36 percent earlier in the day, the highest mark since April 2002. That month, the 10-year bond yield reached a closing peak of 5.48 percent. The 30-year bond yield, meanwhile, exceeded 5.73 percent, also its highest mark since April 2002. The stock market took a sharp nosedive that year, in the aftermath of a monthslong recession.
Both notes have dipped slightly from Wednesday’s highs, and are respectively trading at below 5.32 percent and 5.69 percent as of lunchtime. But 10- and 30-year bond yields both remain about 4 basis points higher than closing time on Tuesday. Bond yields are also up across Europe, as investors have fled the market amid mounting government debt and high oil prices due to the wars in Iran and Ukraine. Mohamed El-Erian, who chaired former President Obama’s Global Development Council, wrote Wednesday on social media that France’s 10-year bond yield is “leading a regional rise that increasingly reflects a two-way dynamic with US Treasuries.”
Higher interest rates often push up bond yields, which are inversely correlated with prices. Last month, the Federal Reserve hiked rates for the first time since July 2023, as inflation remains above its 2 percent target. Later today, the Fed will release minutes from the meeting that concluded with the quarter-point rate hike, which raised the federal funds rate to between 3.75 percent and 4 percent. The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets rates, will gather again in the final week of October — against the backdrop of multiple central bank officials indicating future rate hikes are in store.
Rising bond yields portend higher borrowing costs for Americans on an array of products, including mortgages. The average 30-year mortgage rate, which closely tracks the 10-year bond yield, is 7.52 percent as of Wednesday, its highest mark since November 2023, according to data from Bankrate.