The yields on 30-year Treasuries crossed the 5% mark once again on Wednesday after President Joe Biden delivered live press remarks during his visit to Israel.
Biden committed to an “unprecedented support package for Israel,” to be unveiled this week.
“You are not alone,” he said, emphasizing U.S. support for Israel. “We will not stand by and do nothing again, not today, not tomorrow, not ever,” he added.
Biden compared the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, in which 1,400 people were killed, to the scale of fifteen 9/11 attacks. Earlier this morning, the President blamed the terrorist organization for the Gaza hospital attack on Tuesday.
Yields on 10-year Treasuries also rose, reaching 4.9%, the highest level since July 2007.
Chart: Treasury Yields Reach a 17-Year High
The popular iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT declined by 1.3%, extending its year-to-date decline to 18%.
The US has “lost the handle” on fiscal policy, Diana Amoa, chief investment officer of Long Biased Strategies at Kirkoswald Asset Management, said this morning in a Bloomberg interview.
On Tuesday, economist Mohamed El-Erian warned that the U.S. Treasury market might have lost its strategic anchor as portfolio stabilizer following the recent sharp volatility in yields.
Meanwhile, gold has broken away from its traditional inverse relationship with Treasury yields to better reflect the increasing geopolitical risks in the Middle East. The SPDR Gold Trust ETF GLD increased by 1.5% as of 10:40 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
U.S. stocks experienced a decline. The S&P 500 Index, as tracked by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, dropped by 0.5%. Defense stocks outperformed, with the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF ITA rising by 0.6%.
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