The Treasury Department on Wednesday said it will more than double the size of its government debt repurchases, sending yields sharply lower at a time of substantial market stress.
With fixed income markets under pressure and yields surging to levels not seen in nearly 20 years, the announcement targets the sensitive longer-duration part of the Treasury market.
Under the accelerated buyback, Treasury, led by Secretary Scott Bessent, will target the 10- to 20- year and 20- to 30-year portion of the market, which has seen a buyers’ strike since late June. The government will “at least double” the maximum size of its buyback operations, from $2 billion to “at least” $4 billion, according to an announcement from the department.
Yields cratered following the announcement while stock market futures rose sharply.
The benchmark 10-year note fell 6 basis points to 4.647% and the 30-year “long” bond tumbled 9 basis point to 5.196%. A basis point equals 0.01%. Yields and prices move in opposite directions.