US Treasury Yields
Treasury Yields
Delayed · ~15 minLive market data · delayed ~15 min · Source: Yahoo Finance
Market Context · The US Treasury yield curve is the price of money for the US government — and the benchmark against which almost every other interest rate in the economy is set. The data table above updates automatically (delayed ~15 minutes). The narrative below is current as of the October 13, 2026 close and is updated on market events.
What is happening
The 10-year Treasury yield closed October 13 at 5.22%, easing about 5 basis points as bond trading resumed after the Columbus Day holiday. The week before, it peaked near 5.36% — a level market reports described as the highest since 2002. Yields are staying elevated because three forces point the same way: inflation that has not finished cooling (September CPI is due October 14, consensus 3.6% year over year), oil above $105 a barrel feeding energy-driven price pressure, and a Federal Reserve in no hurry to cut. The result is a market where the 10-year has become the pressure point: on October 13 US equities finished almost flat, but rate-sensitive names sold off while chip stocks took the headlines.
Why it matters
Mortgages and housing. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate is priced off the 10-year yield plus a spread, so a 10-year above 5% keeps mortgage rates near their highs and affordability stretched. See how mortgage rates are set and run your own numbers on the mortgage calculator.
Equities. A higher yield raises the discount rate applied to future earnings. That bites longest-duration stocks first — the AI and growth names whose valuations assume profits years away — which is why yield spikes so often show up as tech sell-offs.
The dollar and the world. US yields above 5% pull global capital toward dollar assets and tighten financial conditions far beyond the US, from emerging-market borrowers to European credit. Our companion profile covers the US dollar.
Governments and companies. Every refinancing at 5%-plus resets interest costs — for the Treasury, for corporations rolling over debt, and for any borrower whose fixed rate expires. The mechanics are in Bond Yields, Explained and How Central Banks Move Markets.
What could change the picture
Inflation data. September CPI (October 14, 8:30 a.m. ET) is the immediate test — a hot core reading would push yields toward the 5.36% peak; a soft one is the fastest route down. The Fed. The October 27–28 FOMC meeting follows; officials’ language on the pace of cuts moves the 2-year first and the 10-year with it. Supply. Treasury auction demand and the quarterly refunding announcement test how much yield the market demands to absorb US borrowing. Oil. Brent sustained above $105 keeps inflation expectations — and therefore yields — pinned higher.
What happened before
September 2026. Only weeks ago, a Treasury selloff drove the 10-year to a 19-year high and broke the market’s calm — the same pattern of yields, not stocks, setting the day’s agenda. 2022–23. The fastest tightening cycle in four decades showed how duration risk surfaces suddenly: by March 2023, unrealized bond losses contributed to US regional-bank failures. 2002. The last era of sustained 5%-plus 10-year yields — but the economy then carried far less mortgage and corporate debt refinancing at short intervals, so today’s sensitivity to the same yield level is higher. These are observations from past episodes, not a forecast of a repeat.
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Go deeper: Bond Yields, Explained · How Inflation Works · Oil Prices — Market Context · The US Dollar — Market Context · Daily coverage in The Global Close.
Market Context pages combine automatically updated data (delayed ~15 minutes; source: Yahoo Finance) with editorial narrative updated on market events, not continuously. Narrative figures are as of the date shown. For information and education only — not investment advice.