The U.S. Treasury yield curve temporarily inverted on Wednesday, with two-year note yields exceeding 10-year yields, signaling growing concerns over a recession in the world's biggest economy.
The inversion, which happened for the first time since June 2007, is widely viewed as an indicator for a looming recession. In the past 50 years, the curve has inverted before every recession.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield fell below 1.6 percent on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the yield was briefly below that of the two-year Treasury note. Rattled investors then rushed to long-term safe haven assets, pushing the benchmark 30-year Treasury yield to a record low.
"You have a little bit of panic going on here about the state of the economy and the bond market is reflecting that," Richard Bernstein, founder of investment firm RBAdvisors, was quoted by the POLITICO as saying.
The alarming signal in the bond market helped drive the Dow Jones Industrial Average down some 800 points, or 3 percent, as investors suffered their worst day of the year. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also saw similar declines.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has recently warned that the risk of recession is rising amid U.S.-China trade tensions, highlighting the impact on U.S. economic growth. The U.S. investment bank lowered its fourth-quarter growth forecast by 0.2 percentage points to 1.8 percent.
