10-year U.S. Treasury yield hits highest level since November 2023

The 10-year Treasury note yield reached a fresh multiyear high on Wednesday as inflation and debt concerns pressured global government borrowing costs.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note — the main benchmark for mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt — was last down more than 1 basis point at 4.78%. It reached 4.818%, its highest level since November 2023 earlier in the day.

The 30-year Treasury yield was less than 1 basis point lower at 5.259%, while the yield on the 2-year Treasury note fell more than 2 basis points to 4.369%.

One basis point equals 0.01%, and yields and prices move inversely.

Yields had also risen higher globally as investors continued to demand a greater premium to take on medium- and long-term government debt.

The latest escalation in tensions in the Middle East has renewed fears about inflation proving entrenched, while traders increasingly expect interest rate hikes this month in the U.S. and beyond.

«Investors are now staring directly into the eyes of an inflation monster that threatens to become stronger unless action is taken. Central banks typically raise interest rates to fight inflation, and market expectations for the scale of rate hikes continues to evolve,» Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said in a Wednesday note.

«Bonds are reaching the point where certain investors may seek to lock in high yields caused by the latest market volatility. What might be holding them back is an expectation that yields could get even higher if rates go up fast and hard, meaning certain bond investors could be playing a waiting game before piling in.»

With inflation top of mind, investors paid attention to more economic data releases this week for further insights on the economy. Payrolls processing firm ADP reported Wednesday that private companies in the U.S. added 38,000 jobs in August, down from the upwardly revised 46,000 in July and less than the 47,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones expected.

While New York Federal Reserve President John Williams told CNBC Wednesday that he believes the latest spike in Treasury yields is the result of a strong economy, he also said he’s still processing recent economic data releases, adding that «we have to wait and see» on the need for raising interest rates.

«There’s no clear signs right now whether monetary policy currently is sufficient to make sure we bring inflation back to target in the next year or two, or whether you need to see further action to do that,» he said.