The 10-year Treasury yield fell one basis point to 4.77 percent, retreating from its near-5 percent peak earlier this week when the global bond market experienced a sharp sell-off that pushed long-term yields to their highest levels in decades.
The modest rebound offered little reassurance. The Trump administration's announcement of increased debt buybacks for longer-dated bonds failed to provide sustained relief. U.S. 30-year bonds reversed earlier gains a day after the announcement, with some yields having touched 19-year highs, underscoring investor unease over surging government debt.
International yields also eased. The 10-year UK gilt yield fell five basis points to 5.18 percent after hitting its highest level since August 2007 earlier this week. The equivalent German yield edged two basis points lower.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized U.S. Treasuries' outperformance versus global peers, but the domestic market's performance tells a different story. A Bloomberg total return gauge for U.S. Treasuries is down 1.4 percent this year, compared to a 1 percent decline in a broader global equivalent gauge.
Tech companies' aggressive issuance of debt to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure is competing directly with government bonds for capital, pressuring Treasury demand and pushing yields higher.
