{"text":[[{"start":15.138,"text":"US long-term borrowing costs surged to their highest level in nearly two decades on Thursday, as a jump in oil prices to $109 a barrel and a disappointing Treasury debt buyback operation reignited a global bond sell-off."}],[{"start":30.64,"text":"The 30-year US bond yield jumped as much as 0.08 percentage points to 5.37 per cent, its highest level since 2007, as investors gave a frosty reception to Treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s buyback plan. The operation undershot its $6bn target on Thursday afternoon, with the US accepting just $5.2bn of offers."}],[{"start":54.28,"text":"The 10-year Treasury yield — the world’s most important interest rate — rose after the results were announced, leaving it 0.11 percentage points higher at 4.95 per cent on the verge of the 5 per cent mark."}],[{"start":66.96,"text":"Further unnerving bond markets, oil prices settled at their highest levels in almost four months as the Middle East conflict triggered fresh supply fears."}],[{"start":75.88,"text":"“Bonds are facing a double whammy — oil prices are creeping higher, while US buybacks and growing credibility risks are pushing term premia higher,” said Pooja Kumra, a rates strategist at TD Securities."}],[{"start":87.76,"text":"Compounding market concerns, Donald Trump on Wednesday pledged to issue a $5,000 “dividend” to every US adult citizen if Republicans retain control of Congress in the midterm elections — a move estimated to cost more than $1tn."}],[{"start":102.44,"text":"Bessent had hoped the Treasury’s buyback operation would steady the recent sell-off in long-term debt. Markets were underwhelmed by both the $6bn cap announced for the first operation and the final buyback volumes, after the Treasury vowed to “at least double” buybacks to $4bn in mid-August."}],[{"start":118.84,"text":"Separately, the Treasury on Thursday locked in the highest borrowing costs in a quarter of a century at a closely watched auction of 30-year debt."}],[{"start":127.12,"text":"The $22bn auction fetched a high yield of 5.308 per cent, up from 5.216 per cent at the previous sale last month and the highest rate since 2001. But the chunky borrowing costs helped draw in investors, ensuring strong demand for the debt."}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":144.68,"text":"Yields also climbed sharply in Europe after Houthi rebels seized a vital Yemeni port and a slump in Saudi Arabian crude production added fresh impetus to a rally in oil prices."}],[{"start":155.24,"text":"Brent crude, the international benchmark, settled 6.3 per cent higher at $107.63 a barrel on Thursday before rising further to $109 in late trading. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, was up by a similar margin."}],[{"start":171.22,"text":"The rise in oil prices led traders to increase bets that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. The yield on two-year Treasuries, which are sensitive to rate expectations, added 0.16 percentage points to hit 4.58 per cent."}],[{"start":186.56,"text":"The Fed’s rate-setting committee will meet next week amid deep divisions over borrowing costs."}],[{"start":191.88,"text":"The oil price gains came after an Opec report on Thursday showed Saudi Arabia had told the cartel it produced just 6.2mn barrels a day in August, the lowest monthly figure in 2026 and 23 per cent lower than in July."}],[{"start":205.1,"text":"“The oil market is correcting its biggest mispricing since Russia-Ukraine in 2022,” said Bob McNally, founder of Rapidan Energy Group and formerly an energy adviser to ex-president George W Bush."}],[{"start":218.48,"text":"“Then the error was unwarranted pessimism about the size [and] duration of the disruption, and now it’s optimism.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":224.76,"text":"Underlining the price pressures in the US, data released on Thursday showed wholesale inflation ticked higher in August as resurgent fuel costs made it more expensive to ship goods across the country."}],[{"start":236,"text":"The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index rose to a year-on-year rate of 5.4 per cent from 4.7 per cent a month earlier, a larger increase than Wall Street analysts had anticipated."}],[{"start":248.1,"text":"This week Trump conceded oil prices would stay elevated at least until the midterm elections."}],[{"start":253.26,"text":"The president said oil prices would then come “tumbling downward” even though analysts are speedily ratcheting up 2026 and 2027 oil price forecasts amid few signs the US and Iran are prepared to agree a peace deal."}],[{"start":266.56,"text":"S&P Global Energy on Thursday said oil markets were “settling into a new normal” of higher prices as the prospects for a definitive resolution to the Iran conflict dimmed."}],[{"start":277.16,"text":"“The market is not returning to calm, it is adjusting to the new normal defined by unresolved conflict and persistent maritime risk — one where oil flows stay below prewar levels and the path forward remains uneven,” said Jim Burkhard, vice-president and global head of crude oil research, S&P Global Energy."}],[{"start":296.36,"text":"Stocks sank in tandem with bonds. The S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent and the Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.9 per cent. The Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.7 per cent."}],[{"start":308.16,"text":"Additional reporting by Verity Ratcliffe in London"}],[{"start":315.51,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789083492_8812.mp3"}