Rising concerns about the global economy triggered a “flash crash” in US Treasury yields yesterday, as losses spread across stock markets and a new wave of investors appeared to give up on their bullish bets.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury, a key barometer of the strength of the US economy, fell below 2 per cent for the first time since the Federal Reserve began talking about removing its monetary stimulus in May 2013.
Dealing desks scrambled to make sense of the scale of the drop. Yields fell from 2.19 per cent to 2 per cent in the hour after the release of weak US retail sales, and then plunged to 1.86 per cent within moments. They had rebounded to 1.95 per cent later in New York.