Treasury yields climbed higher on Wednesday as investors continued to monitor any fiscal move to offset the impact of the coronavirus.
Treasurys
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely with prices, rose six basis points to 0.82% in volatile trading. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at around 1.33%.
President Donald Trump pitched a 0% payroll tax rate for employers and employees for the rest of the year to address the rapidly escalating coronavirus outbreak. The move would come on top of an $8.3 billion spending package signed last week.
However, investors remained jittery after CNBC reported that the White House is far from ready to roll out specific economic proposals.
The benchmark 10-year rate tumbled to an all-time low of 0.32% on Monday amid stocks' worst one-day sell-off since the financial crisis.
"Regardless of how equipped one might assume Capitol Hill is at determining and delivering a sufficient round of fiscal stimulus, the political process itself adds yet another level of uncertainty," Ian Lyngen, BMO's head of U.S. rates, said in a note on Wednesday.
The Bank of England on Wednesday cut interest rates by 50 basis points to bring borrowing cost to the lowest on record, in its first emergency move since the financial crisis. The move follows a similar action from the Federal Reserve earlier this month.
The coronavirus outbreak continued to worsen around the world. The World Health Organization declared Wednesday the outbreak a global pandemic. As of Wednesday morning, at least 113,851 coronavirus cases have been confirmed globally. In the U.S. alone, there have been more than 1,000 cases of the infection.
On the data front, the consumer price index for February rose 0.1% and is up 2.3% from last year. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.2% and increased 2.4% year-on-year.
— CNBC's Elliot Smith contributed reporting.