Bessent touts bond market as 10-year Treasury yield spikes

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a "fireside chat", as finance ministers and central bank governors from G20 countries meet in Asheville, North Carolina, U.S., September 1, 2026. Sam Wolfe | ReutersTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent boasted Tuesday that the U.S. bond market has outperformed the rest of the world since President Donald Trump's return to office. But he made his comments as 10-year Treasury yields rose to their highest level in nearly 20 months amid a global bond selloff that has raised fears about a repeat of the 1997 Asian financial crisis."It's been the best-performing bond market among major countries in the world," Bessent asserted during a "fireside chat" with Fox Business host Larry Kudlow at the Group of 20 finance meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.The hedge-fund veteran and Cabinet secretary chose a starting point for his analysis that downplayed the bond market's reaction to Trump's presidency. Markets anticipate future events, and investors who began to price in the possibility of a Trump victory started selling off U.S. government debt well ahead of his Jan. 20, 2025, inauguration. Accounting for that context, the U.S. bond market has p...