Global bond rout deepens as 10-year Treasury yield reaches levels last seen in 2002

Relentless selling pushed the 10-year US Treasury note above 5.3% and dragged UK, French, Japanese and Australian government yields to multi-decade highs.

Assembled by Claude from 10 sources at 9 outlets · Thursday, October 1, 2026, Morning edition, 10:28 AM EDT · no human byline

What happened

Selling pressure pushed the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note above 5.3% on Wednesday, the highest since 2002 wsj.comreuters.com. The move took the benchmark to a fresh 24-year high and returned the bond market to pricing last seen at the turn of the century wsj.comwsj.com. The New York Times reported that US bond yields had hit their highest level since 2002 nytimes.com.

The long end moved further. The 30-year Treasury yield surged past 5.6% to a 24-year high after strong US consumer data finance.biggo.com. Semafor reported that the 30-year yield briefly touched its highest level since 2002, leaving yields near 25-year highs semafor.com.

A global, not American, sell-off

The Financial Times reported that the global bond sell-off deepened as Asian yields jumped ft.com. Australian and Japanese yields approached multi-decade highs, which market participants attributed to a combination of contagion from the US market and uncertainty about Bank of Japan tightening amwatch.comft.com.

In Europe the repricing was sharper still. UK 30-year borrowing costs hit 6%, the highest since 1998, as the government bond sell-off intensified theguardian.com. France's 10-year yield headed for its biggest quarterly surge since 1987 m.economictimes.com. The New York Times noted that the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan all increased rates last month, and that traders expect them to do so again this year nytimes.com.

What to watch

The fiscal arithmetic is the first channel. With debt already high and interest payments taking a large share of public finances, sustained yields at these levels could squeeze budgets further theguardian.com.

The shape of the curve is the second. The spread between 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields narrowed to 0.17 percentage point, the smallest reading in the series cited finance.biggo.com. Some investors are starting to lean the other way: one told Reuters the firm was skewed towards the short end of the UK curve, while adding that the risk-reward trade-off for 10-year bonds was becoming attractive reuters.com.

For now, the repricing is being read as much as a growth story as a fiscal one. The Wall Street Journal asked directly whether rising yields on the 10-year Treasury reflect accelerating economic growth wsj.com. Whichever reading wins, the level of the long bond is resetting the discount rate applied to every other asset, and the sell-off has run with what the market has described as startling speed wsj.com.

Sources

1. wsj.com: Surging Yields Bring the Bond Market Back to the Turn of the Century - WSJ (2026-10-01)
2. wsj.com: 10-Year Treasury Yield Rises to New 24-Year High | Markets P.M. for Sept 30 - WSJ (2026-09-30)
3. reuters.com: VIEW Bond markets take a drubbing again, 10-year Treasury yields highest since 2002. (2026-10-01)
4. ft.com: Global bond sell-off deepens as Asian yields jump - Financial Times (2026-10-01)
5. theguardian.com: UK 30-year borrowing costs hit 6%, highest since 1998, as government bond sell-off intensifies (2026-10-01)
6. nytimes.com: U.S. Bond Yields Hit Highest Level Since 2002 - The New York Times (2026-10-01)
7. m.economictimes.com: France's 10-year bond yield heads for biggest quarterly surge since 1987 (2026-09-30)
8. finance.biggo.com: Strong U.S. Consumer Data Sends 30-Year Treasury Yield Surging Past 5.6% to 24-Year High (2026-10-01)
9. semafor.com: US Treasury yields near 25-year highs (2026-09-30)
10. amwatch.com: Global bond yields climb as Australia and Japan near multi‑decade highs - AMWatch (2026-10-01)