Treasuries climb as global stock selloff fuels haven demand

Treasuries advanced as trading resumed after a long weekend, with a selloff in global equities fuelling demand for haven assets.

The 10-year US yield slid as much as 5 basis points to about 5.19% on Tuesday, as a slump in heavyweight technology shares caused Asia’s stock benchmark to slide more than 2% intraday and hit a two-month low. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 Index also fell 0.8%.

Stock investors are turning cautious on the AI trade, one of the hottest corners of the market this year, heading into earnings season. Rising competition, stretched valuations and concerns over soaring AI spending have raised questions about whether companies can deliver results that justify the sector’s breakneck rally.

“Equities under pressure and investors seeking some safety again,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets in Singapore. “5% may be the first reasonable level to watch” for the 10-year Treasury yield, she said, adding that “we could get there fairly quickly if risk sentiment stays weak and growth concerns build.”

The benchmark 10-year yield hit 5.36% last week, the highest since 2002, amid growing worries over US fiscal deficits and as elevated oil prices boosted bets the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates further to quell inflation. Rising global borrowing costs have fueled concern about economic growth, increasing scrutiny over equity valuations.

St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem last week signalled interest rates should increase over the next six-to-nine months, while his Cleveland counterpart Beth Hammack said on Monday that smaller, more frequent adjustments to policy can help inflation expectations remain anchored. Minutes of the Fed’s September policy meeting showed last week that all 19 officials backed the decision to raise interest rates.

Despite Tuesday’s decline, the prospect of higher yields remains a concern for bond investors, who are also assessing the potential impact from President Donald Trump’s deal on Russian diesel supplies, alongside the outlook for US monetary policy.

A surge in government bond yields is the biggest emerging risk to the global financial system, according to Athanasios Vamvakidis, deputy director at the capital markets division of the International Monetary Fund.

Tuesday’s stock losses in Asia followed a selloff in technology shares on Wall Street that left a US gauge of chip stocks at its weakest since mid-September. There was no cash trading in Treasuries globally on Monday due to holidays.

“There’s no clear data catalyst for this rally,” said Prashant Newnaha, senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities in Singapore. “The sea of red in Asian equities” is certainly providing an underlying bond bid, he said.

© 2026 Bloomberg