Treasury seven-year notes clear at 5.085% as bid-to-cover falls to 2.42

The Treasury sold $44 billion of seven-year notes on Thursday at a 5.085% high yield, on a session when the 30-year yield was at 5.448% as of 1:42 p.m. Eastern, the highest since 2004.

The bid-to-cover ratio was 2.42, down from 2.50 in August. That sale, also $44 billion, cleared at 4.512% on August 27, 57 basis points below Thursday's high yield. The notes carry a 5% coupon.

Indirect bidders, who route orders through dealers and include foreign official accounts, took 57.2% of competitive paper, down from 60.8% at the August 27 sale. Direct bidders rose to 30.3% from 27.0%, absorbing most of that shift.

Mike Sanders, head of fixed income at Madison Investments, told CNBC on Thursday that the recent rise in yields "can no longer be attributed simply to concerns over the deficit," a read on the week's selloff rather than on this auction. The sale was the last coupon auction of the week. The 10-year yield was at 5.155% as of 1:39 p.m. Eastern, up 4 basis points on the session.

An iShares fund tracking seven-to-ten-year Treasuries, BIEF, had traded as low as $89.84 by 1:50 p.m. Eastern, an intraday 52-week low in the maturity range the Treasury had just sold.

Separately, Freddie Mac put the average 30-year fixed mortgage at 7.03% in its Thursday survey, the first weekly reading above 7% since January 2025.