Stocks, Bonds Hold Losses After Bessent’s Remarks: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — A rally in bonds fizzled out and stocks fell on bets the Treasury plan to curb borrowing costs is just a short-term fix, with a renewed surge in oil prices stoking worries about inflation.
Thirty-year Treasuries remained lower after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said increased buybacks of longer-dated securities announced this week could be more than $4 billion per issue. Brent topped $93 as President Donald Trump’s threat to crush the Iranian economy clouded the prospect of ending the war. The S&P 500 extended this week’s drop. Bitcoin topped $71,000.
“We have a big toolkit, so we’ll see,” Bessent said Thursday on CNBC. “And part of it is signaling here, and to show that we believe that the yields don’t reflect the underlying fundamentals.”
The latest actions on Wall Street follows a series of Treasury decisions that have signaled growing concern about rising long-term yields. Lofty government financing costs are feeding through to the broader economy, after years of elevated inflation and government spending.
At JPMorgan Chase & Co., Jay Barry says the latest Treasury maneuver only addressed the symptoms and not the root cause: the US runs a 6% deficit in an economy near full employment.
“Absent real fiscal consolidation, we fear the markets will view this action as lacking credibility,” he noted.
“The announcement from Treasury Secretary Bessent yesterday seems to be creating less confidence in investors’ minds, not more confidence,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak. “This is not great given that we’re heading into a seasonal period that is frequently rough for the markets.”
The Treasury’s intervention is evidence policymakers are focused on maintaining stability at the long end of the curve and are uncomfortable with the pace of the rise in yields, noted Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Chief Investment Office. But it does not fundamentally alter the outlook for rates, she said.
“Our base case remains that the Fed is unlikely to raise rates this year if inflation continues to moderate, although policymakers have retained the option to tighten should price pressures prove more persistent than expected,” Hoffmann-Burchardi added.
Meantime, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly suggested the Treasury market is signaling that monetary policy is in a good place right now.
“There’s a lot of discussion about our credibility there. I don’t see our credibility at risk,” Daly told Bloomberg Television. “I also hear a lot about, should we be making preemptive cuts — or hikes, rather? And I don’t see a lot of evidence that that’s an urgent problem to solve.”
Corporate Highlights:
Super Micro Computer Inc. completed an independent probe into the alleged smuggling of Nvidia Corp. chips into China, with the investigation team concluding the company’s current senior management had no knowledge of the purported scheme. Hudson River Trading signed a multiyear deal with CoreWeave Inc. to build new trading research and models using the tech company’s artificial-intelligence computing services. Deere & Co. said it’s seeing a boost in orders for its machinery, raising hopes that the agriculture sector is poised for recovery. Coty Inc. reported a drop in comparable sales and forecast a “transition” period in the current fiscal year as the beauty conglomerate works to turn around its business. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s profit plunged more than 75% after the Chinese company ratcheted up quarterly capital spending to almost $10 billion, aiming to safeguard its position in a fiercely competitive global AI arena. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 11:20 a.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.5% The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed The MSCI World Index fell 0.1% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1683 The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3639 The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 158.77 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 4.6% to $72,204.6 Ether rose 3.7% to $2,299.91 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 4.69% Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 3.25% Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 5.05% The yield on 30-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 5.23% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.4% to $87.86 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.5% to $4,539.83 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
