10-year Treasury yield retreats after touching January 2025 high

The 10 year Treasury yield slipped on Friday, easing to about 4.69% after briefly trading above 4.7% on Thursday, its highest level since Jan. 15, 2025, according to CNBC market data. The move matters for households and companies because the 10-year note is a core reference point for mortgage rates, auto loans and other forms of credit.

CNBC reported that the 10-year yield was last down by 1 basis point at 4.693%. The prior day’s rise came as Brent crude moved above $100 a barrel, a level that revived concerns that energy costs could keep inflation pressures elevated.

The 2-year Treasury yield, which tends to reflect expectations for Federal Reserve policy over a shorter horizon, fell by almost 2 basis points to 4.333%, CNBC reported. The 30-year Treasury bond yield was little changed.

A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point, or 0.01%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions: when investors bid up the price of a Treasury security, its yield falls, and when the price declines, the yield rises.

Why did Treasury yields move on Friday?

The retreat followed a jump in yields on Thursday that coincided with a rise in oil prices and renewed inflation worries. Higher energy prices can feed into headline inflation and influence expectations for how long the Federal Reserve may need to keep policy restrictive.

Geopolitical risk also remained in focus. President Donald Trump told Axios on Thursday that he was close to deciding whether to order a “massive attack” on Iran, saying the potential strikes would be larger than earlier action in the conflict and that Iran had not “received enough pain yet.”

Axios quoted Trump as saying: “I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it.” CNBC reported that U.S. Central Command had completed a 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iranian targets overnight, after two weeks of U.S. military action.

Tension in the Middle East has widened into the Red Sea, according to CNBC. For bond markets, such developments can affect inflation expectations through oil prices, while also shaping demand for perceived safe assets such as U.S. government debt.

What were the latest Treasury yield levels?

• 10-year Treasury: 4.689%, down 0.014 percentage point, according to CNBC market data.
• 2-year Treasury: 4.331%, down 0.029 percentage point.
• 30-year Treasury: 5.169%, down 0.002 percentage point.
• 1-month Treasury: 3.775%, down 0.015 percentage point.
• 6-month Treasury: 4.037%, down 0.023 percentage point.
• 1-year Treasury: 4.125%, down 0.012 percentage point.
• 3-month Treasury: 3.894%, down 0.003 percentage point.

Economic data added another input for rates markets. Initial jobless claims for the week ended July 18 totaled 187,000, below the 212,000 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones, CNBC reported.

Investors were also awaiting the S&P Global Flash U.S. purchasing managers index due Friday. The PMI gauges activity across the U.S. manufacturing and services sectors and is watched for signals on growth, demand and price pressures.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.