U.S. Government Bond Yields Stabilize Amid Debt Concerns

Longer-dated U.S. government bond yields steadied on Friday as investor jitters over the Treasury Department's extended debt repurchase program and soaring national debt continue to weigh on markets.

Yields on the 30-year U.S. Treasury note, the primary focus of the buyback plan, rose less than 1 basis point to 5.246%.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield — the key benchmark for mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt — were down less than 1 basis point at 4.694%. The shorter-dated 2-year Treasury note yield, which more closely follows short-term Federal Reserve rate decisions, was flat at 4.185%.

One basis point equals 0.01%, or 1/100th of 1%, and yields and prices move inversely to one another.

Borrowing costs rebounded sharply during Thursday's session, with both the 10-year and 30-year note yield rising more than 5 basis points.

That wiped out the 10-year yield's decline from the day before, which came after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's bombshell intervention in the government bond market, with a ramp-up in repurchases aimed at easing pressure at the long end of the curve.

Willem Sels, global chief investment officer at HSBC Private Bank and Premier Wealth, said the rebound in long-term yields underlines market concerns that the Fed has become "less credible or predictable" under Chairman Kevin Warsh.

"We think this concern should fade as the Fed decisions are committee-based, and policy will become clearer over time. So instead, it is the supply from U.S. hyperscalers and the U.S. government that are the key concerns currently," Sels said in a note.