Bond yields fall, stocks rally as Fed's Waller comments curb rate hike bets

The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note fell 3.8 basis points, on track for its biggest fall since August 25, to 4.756%. On Wednesday, the yield on the note hit 4.818%, its highest since November 1, 2023. Earlier, 10-year German yields were down 2 bps at 3.353%.

The Japanese yen jumped by 2% against the U.S. dollar as traders ramped up bets on a Bank of Japan interest rate hike. The Japanese yen was last up 2.08% at 155.47 per dollar. It is approaching the 155.21 level that was the yen high after a July intervention.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.69% to 98.91, with the euro up 0.41% at $1.1634.

In commodities, oil prices ended mixed, with Brent crude futures falling 11 cents, or 0.12%, to settle at $95.52 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rising 29 cents, or 0.32%, to settle at $91.30. Both contracts hit six-week highs earlier in the session.