Yields Rise to New Highs After $6 Billion Treasury Buyback Announcement

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is trying to tame the bond market. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg)

Key Points

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the department will increase its long-term bond purchase plan to $6 billion per operation.
• The Treasury plans to buy $6 billion in bonds expiring in 10 to 20 years in seven operations through early November.
• Treasuries sold off and the 10-year yield rose as high as 4.85% following the announcement, which was below some strategists’ expectations.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will up the department’s long-term bond purchase plan to $6 billion per operation.

The Treasury Department, in its preliminary announcement Wednesday morning, said it plans to buy $6 billion in each of the seven instances through early November when it will purchase bonds expiring in 10 to 20 years. That compares to the stated guidance of the “at least $4 billion” in an Aug. 19 press release.

Strategists had varying expectations, but generally expected the Treasury to surpass $4 billion. Morgan Stanley and Jefferies were at the higher-end of estimates, expecting up to $10 billion worth of long-end buybacks.

Treasuries are selling off in reaction to the announcement. The 10-year yield rose as high as 4.85%, the highest since 2023. That implies that bond traders were expecting a greater amount of buybacks.

Bessent hasn’t been shy about his hands-on approach with the Treasury. In a fireside chat at SMU Cox School of Business on Tuesday, Bessent said that buybacks are his way of making people “get out of their fever dream and look at the facts.” That matched his prior commentary on CNBC, when he said the buyback push was designed to soothe the headline-driven volatility during a quiet trading window.

On Wednesday, however, Bessent added to the volatility.

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