Bessent’s move to tamp down rising rates backfires as bond yields jump and stocks tumble

Bonds sharply sold off and stocks tumbled Wednesday after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s latest effort to tamp down what he called market “fever” backfired. At 11 a.m. ET, the Treasury Department announced that it would repurchase $6 billion worth of 10- to 20-year government bonds, in the hope that fewer bonds on the market would drive up demand, pushing down rates, or yields, that have soared to levels not seen in decades. But that’s not what happened. Instead, most Treasury yields sharply jumped on the announcement. The 10-year bond yield surged to as high as 4.85%, its highest since November...