[Text/Watchman Network Lin Chenli] According to reports by The Wall Street Journal, affected by President Trump's tariff policy, US Treasury bonds, which are traditional safe-haven assets, have continued to be sold off this week, and the yield of US Treasury bonds has kept rising. Among them, the yield of the 10-year US Treasury bond rose by 48.5 basis points this week, reaching 4.494%, marking the largest weekly increase since November 2001.

Data shows that on April 11, local time, the yield of the 10-year US Treasury bond continued its previous upward momentum, once breaking through the 4.5% mark during the session, with a high reaching 4.589%, finally closing at 4.494%. The yield of the 30-year US Treasury bond once rose to 4.957%, closing at 4.870%, up 44.8 basis points this week.

Weekly chart of the yield of the 10-year US Treasury bond, The Wall Street Journal

Weekly chart of the yield of the 30-year US Treasury bond, The Wall Street Journal

The yields of US Treasury bonds with maturities of 2 to 7 years also continued to rise that day. The yield of the 2-year US Treasury bond closed at 3.977%, up 31.5 basis points for the week; the yield of the 3-year US Treasury bond closed at 4.021%, up 38 basis points for the week; the yield of the 5-year US Treasury bond closed at 4.155%, up 43.9 basis points for the week; the yield of the 7-year US Treasury bond closed at 4.337%, up 49.3 basis points for the week.

In addition to Trump's trade war weakening the safe-haven status of US Treasury bonds, recent inflation indicators in the United States have been below expectations, and consumer confidence has continued to weaken, which is also one of the reasons for the continuous rise in Treasury bond yields. On April 11, local time, the University of Michigan announced the preliminary value of the consumer confidence index for April, plunging from 57 last month to 50.8, with a drop exceeding expectations, leading to an intensification of US Treasury selling.

America Business News (CNBC) reported that this phenomenon marks a significant shift in investors' views of US Treasury bonds. Traditionally, investors consider US Treasury bonds as a haven in turbulent times. However, traders speculate that this was not the case this week, as countries like Japan have been selling US Treasury bonds amid escalating trade tensions.

Under Trump's tariff policy, Chinese products exported to the U.S. now face a 145% tariff, and China has retaliated by raising tariffs on American goods to 125%. Although some officials in the U.S. government said that such changes were always planned, the sharp spike in Treasury bond yields likely put pressure on them, forcing them to delay some tariff policies.

On April 11, local time, the White House stated: "U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent is closely monitoring the bond market. He has communicated with the White House, and we know he has been paying attention to this situation."

Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council, also stated on the same day: "The signal sent by the bond market to us is 'hey, it's probably time to take action', which certainly influenced our decision-making思路to some extent."

He added: "But this is not because we panicked due to the situation in the bond market, because we originally intended to carry out a very systematic and carefully planned action, which just happened to occur at the same time."

Seema Shah, Chief Global Strategist at Principal Asset Management, pointed out that the bond market "may have touched a sensitive nerve of the Trump administration."

Shah said: "The Trump administration has repeatedly emphasized its attention to bond yields, even celebrating last week when the yield of the US Treasury bond fell below 4%. Lower financing costs seem to be a key pillar of the Trump administration's overall agenda, so the reversal of market trends and the surge in US Treasury yields have undoubtedly caused great concern in the White House."

This article is an exclusive contribution from Watchman Network, unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7492256679540474395/

Disclaimer: The article represents the author's personal views. Please express your attitude by clicking the [Top/Bottom] button below.