The U.S. Department of the Treasury recovers an additional $785 million in debt

The US Department of the Treasury conducted two rounds of debt buybacks this week, including $785 million in TIPS on Thursday and $3.4 billion on Wednesday. These moves came after the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note dropped sharply to 4.06%, the lowest level since late October. Experts believe the decline was partly due to the delayed release of the September labor market report, which showed higher-than-expected job growth, a downward revision of August’s numbers, and an increase in the unemployment rate to 4.4%—the highest in nearly four years.

Despite the drop in yields, the stock and crypto markets showed little positive reaction. Bitcoin continued to plummet, falling from $95,000 to just over $80,000—the lowest level since April—losing more than $29,000 since mid-November. At the same time, expectations for a Fed rate cut in December rose from 30% to 70% after comments from New York Fed President John Williams about bringing monetary policy back to a neutral level. This is happening as US public debt surpasses $38 trillion.