Treasury yields slide as oil falls on Bessent comments
The move comes as oil prices slid more than 2% on the day after Bessent told CNBC an agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz could come Tuesday or Wednesday.
Aliver
A stock exchange curve appears on a smartphone screen, and a map shows the Strait of Hormuz on a laptop computer screen in this photo illustration taken in Athens, Greece, on March 3, 2026.
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Treasury yields moved lower on Tuesday, following oil prices, after new comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the prospects of an agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note — the key benchmark for U.S. government borrowing — fell nearly 2 basis points to 4.667%.
The 2-year Treasury note yield, which more closely tracks short-term Federal Reserve interest rate policy, slipped around 2 basis point to 4.229%. The longer-dated 30-year Treasury bond yield shed 1 basis point to 5.222%.
One basis point is equal to 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.
The move comes as oil prices slid more than 2% on the day after Bessent told CNBC an agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz could come Tuesday or Wednesday.
"We are in talks with the Iranians," Bessent told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "There is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict."
U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures fell 3% to around $77 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude moved down 2% to around $81.
Yields had been rising of late, with the 30-year hitting its highest level since 2007, as elevated oil prices sparked concern of persistent inflation. Investors are also grappling to an apparently "hawkish hold" from Federal Reserve interest rate setters last week.
— CNBC's Mike Sheen also contributed to this report.
