Stocks, Bonds Fall as ‘Bessent Put’ Relief Fades: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — A rally in bonds fizzled out and stocks fell on bets the Treasury’s plan to curb borrowing costs is just a short-term fix, with higher energy prices stoking worries about inflation.
Thirty-year yields rose even as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent flagged a bigger buyback potential and an upcoming fiscal plan. The S&P 500 lost 0.9%, with Walmart Inc. sinking the most since 2022 on disappointing sales. Oil settled near $88 as President Donald Trump’s threat to crush the Iranian economy clouded peace prospects. Bitcoin topped $72,000.
The Treasury chief played down Thursday’s market moves, saying “anything that happens within a 24-hour period is noise.” He also said the expanded buyback operations “could be more than the $4 billion” size planned to start next month.
“We are announcing probably at the end of this week, beginning of next week, an increased focus on fiscal consolidation,” Bessent told CNBC.
The latest action 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.
“My view is that the ‘Bessent put’ is still going to fail to keep yields down from multi-decade highs over the longer term,” said Hardika Singh at Fundstrat Global Advisors. “Making yields go down over the longer period will require the painful work of bringing down the debt.”
The Treasury intervention showed policymakers are uncomfortable with the pace of the rise in yields, but it does not fundamentally alter the outlook for rates, according to Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Chief Investment Office.
“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,” she added.
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.”
Meantime, Bessent said the US will soon unveil its plan to economically isolate Iran and its trading partners. In a CNBC interview, he said there will be a press conference Monday to “talk about exactly what we’re going to do.”
Corporate Highlights:
Broadcom Inc. is in talks with a group of lenders to raise more than $60 billion in debt for an AI chip financing deal that will benefit Anthropic PBC and other companies, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic PBC expects to match or beat the size of SpaceX’s record-setting initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter. Super Micro Computer Inc. completed an independent probe into the alleged smuggling of Nvidia Corp. chips into China, with the investigation team concluding the current senior management had no knowledge of the purported scheme. Deere & Co. jumped after the tractor maker 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 it works to turn around its business. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 fell 0.9% as of 4 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.7% The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3% The MSCI World Index fell 0.6% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was unchanged at $1.1677 The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3630 The Japanese yen fell 0.6% to 159.10 per dollar Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 5.4% to $72,772.66 Ether rose 4.9% to $2,326.03 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 4.70% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.26% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 5.07% The yield on 30-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 5.25% Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.3% to $87.83 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.2% to $4,524.24 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
