10-Year Note Yields Rise

Yields on 10-year Treasury notes rose in Wednesday’s auction to the highest level since August as the government continued its $36-billion refunding auction.

The average yield was 7.53%, up from 7.29% at the last auction on Feb. 12. It was the same rate as the Nov. 6 auction and the highest since the 10-year notes averaged 7.94% on Aug. 7.

The notes will carry a coupon interest rate of 7.50%, with each $10,000 in face value selling for $9,979.20.

A total of $11.1 billion in notes were sold out of bids totaling $33.4 billion.

The three-day refunding concludes today with an offering of $10 billion in 30-year bonds. It opened Tuesday with the sale of $15.1 billion in three-year notes at an average yield of 5.96%.

The auctions are held four times a year to replenish government coffers drained by huge deficits.