Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed concerns about the US bond market after Thursday's smaller-than-expected debt buyback operation sent yields to multi-year highs. The Treasury market is in "very good shape," Bessent said in an interview with Steve Bannon. He highlighted the strength of two recent auctions and touted US outperformance compared with other markets.

The department had said Wednesday it would purchase up to $6 billion, but Thursday's operation closed with only $5.19 billion bought. It was only the third time officials opted against buying back longer-dated debt. There have been 53 operations since the program was reintroduced in 2024. Bessent said bondholders seemed to want to keep hold of their long-term securities, noting the Treasury normally receives around $20 billion in offers but got only about $10 billion this time.

Bessent said he was taking action in part because of efforts by Iran, pointing to Iran "trying to create economic problems in the US either from using the bond yields" or oil prices. He also sought to clarify his repeated assertions that, regarding market communication, "I am the house," saying he was trying to give the market good framing so traders don't panic. Ten-year yields have climbed to 4.96% since the first US strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.