Bessent's buyback was meant to calm bonds. Inflation traders read it the other way.
Treasury Secretary Bessent doubled the size of the department's routine debt buybacks, pitched as a liquidity operation, and the bond market priced it as a quiet attempt to cap yields. Ten-year breakeven inflation jumped to 2.34%, its highest since June, and the 10-year yield bounced back to 4.73%, above its pre-announcement level. The gambit meant to calm long-dated Treasurys gave inflation worriers fresh ammunition instead.