One of the most important interest rates in the world this week flirted with a level it hadn’t reached in more than 16 years, putting pressure on the economy and the stock market.
The 10-year Treasury yield, a measure of how much it costs the U.S. government to borrow that is widely used as a benchmark for all types of lending, brushed against 5 percent for the first time since mid-2007.
The steep rise in the 10-year yield in recent months has captured the attention of investors, economists and policymakers.
This “sudden, rapid increase” has shaken faith in the continued resilience of the economy, said economists at the rating agency Moody’s, threatening “to knock the U.S. economic expansion off course.”The Federal Reserve controls short-term interest rates, which ripple through the economy via market-based rates like Treasury yields and to borrowing costs on longer-term debt like mortgages and company bonds.
Organizations:
Treasury, Federal Reserve