U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday even as the outlook around additional coronavirus stimulus became more uncertain.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 0.941% , while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond climbed to 1.685%. Yields move inversely to prices.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Politico on Wednesday that lawmakers were still "trying to find a way forward" for additional stimulus. His comment sent stocks slightly lower. Yields, however, remained higher.
Treasurys
Expectations of a new fiscal aid package have risen lately as lawmakers try to break a months-long stalemate in the negotiations, making safe-haven bonds less attractive relative to riskier assets such as stocks.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's decision to sign off a $916 billion stimulus package, proposed by the Trump administration, represented "progress."
However, they added that "the bipartisan talks [in Congress] are the best hope for a bipartisan solution." They also said it was "unacceptable" that the Trump administration would put $40 billion toward unemployment payments, which is less than a quarter of the $180 billion lawmakers had put forward in talks.
Risk sentiment also got a boost after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday that data from Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine trials was consistent with recommendations put forth by the agency for an emergency use authorization.
President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday pledged that his administration would roll out 100 million coronavirus vaccine shots within his first 100 days in office, NBC News reported.
"Financial markets are clearly ignoring the short term, on the ground dynamics around the virus and likely impact to the economy in the coming months," wrote Gregory Faranello, head of U.S. rates trading at AmeriVet Securities.
Faranello also pointed out that while there are several stimulus packages being discussed, there is "still no agreement."
"This pandemic has been about cash and liquidity since the beginning. For many, this will still be too little, too late unfortunately," he said.
— CNBC's Jacob Pramuk, Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Maggie Fitzgerald contributed to this article.