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Scott Bessent
Bessent sees no spillover from French bond selloff
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday, October 20, that he does not expect France's bond market selloff to spread beyond its borders. He spoke as French borrowing costs held close to their highest level in 24 years after…
Treasury’s Bessent urges World Bank to end oil, gas ban
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called on the World Bank to "formally retire its prohibition on financing upstream gas and oil." He made the demand in a written statement dated October 14 to the steering committees of the World…
Bessent downplays Treasury yield surge as global trend
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose as high as 5.342% on Thursday, Oct. 1. It passed its 2007 peak and reached its highest level since early 2002, Reuters reported. The move came as a global sell-off in government debt sent…
Asian stocks rise after Bessent calls China talks ‘very successful’
Asian stock markets mostly advanced Monday morning after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described weekend talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York as "a very successful engagement," lifting investor sentiment ahead of a planned summit between President…
Qatar energy minister calls Bessent ‘wrong’ on Hormuz
Qatar's Energy Minister Saad Al-Kaabi on Sunday called U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent "wrong" for suggesting the Strait of Hormuz will become obsolete, pushing back publicly against Washington's characterization of the world's most important oil chokepoint during the Qatar Economic…
Bankers warn Bessent’s yen push risks undermining BOJ credibility
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's declaration that he is "the house" in the currency markets has drawn pushback from traders and warnings from bankers that his public pressure campaign risks undermining the Bank of Japan's credibility as an independent central bank.
Japan’s finance minister offers cool reply to Bessent’s yen dare
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama on Friday offered a notably diplomatic response to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's combative warning to currency traders betting against the yen, describing his remarks as "a pretty direct expression of his market views, which…
10-year US Treasury yield tops 4.9% as oil spike compounds Bessent buyback misfire
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's effort to tame surging bond yields with an outsized debt buyback fell flat on Wednesday, as yields on U.S. government debt climbed to their highest levels in nearly three years — and kept rising Thursday amid…
Global bond yields hit multi-decade highs as oil tops $100
Long-term government bond yields across the world's major economies have climbed to levels not seen since before the global financial crisis, driven by a combination of energy price shocks from the Middle East conflict, persistent inflation, and ballooning fiscal deficits…
Bessent dares traders on yen bets: ‘I’m the house now’
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday challenged currency traders to bet against his efforts to strengthen Japan's yen, boasting that his position gives him an insurmountable informational edge over the market. Speaking at an event at Southern Methodist University…
Japan likely sold U.S. Treasuries to fund record yen defense
Japan likely sold tens of billions of dollars in U.S. Treasury holdings to finance the largest single-month currency intervention on record, according to Finance Ministry reserve data released Monday.
Dollar drifts lower as Bessent buybacks offset Fed hike bets
The U.S. dollar drifted lower on Tuesday, trapped between two competing policy signals that have left currency markets struggling for direction: Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's hawkish pledge to fight inflation and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's expanded bond buyback program…
Iran says it has enough reserves after Bessent warns of economic collapse
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Monday that Iran's economy could collapse "within weeks or months" under mounting American sanctions pressure, as he opened the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, seeking to rally the world's…
Bessent says Japan will act to boost yen, signals BOJ rate hike
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used the G20 finance leaders' gathering in Asheville, North Carolina, to deliver a pointed message to Japan: raise interest rates and rein in fiscal spending. Speaking on the sidelines of the two-day meeting concluding Tuesday,…
Japan bond yields hit 30-year high as Bessent pushes BOJ to strengthen yen
The Japanese yen steadied near the 160-per-dollar level on Tuesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly urged the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates, while Japan's benchmark borrowing costs climbed to their highest level in three decades amid…
Bessent tells Russia no relief until Ukraine war ends
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on Monday that no economic relief for Russia or agreements on other issues were possible until Moscow's war in Ukraine ends, according to a source familiar with the bilateral…
Bessent meets Russian delegation at G20 to push Trump’s Ukraine peace plan
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with a Russian delegation on Monday on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministerial in Asheville, North Carolina, pushing President Donald Trump's 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, according to CNBC. The meeting, which reportedly…
Bessent calls yen moves ‘contained’ ahead of G20 talks
The Japanese yen slipped back below the closely watched 160-per-dollar level on Friday, erasing more than half the gains from last month's record intervention, even as U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sought to reassure markets that the currency's decline remained…
Bessent warns yen volatility risks global market stability
The United States and Japan launched a rare coordinated intervention in late July to prop up the yen after it slid to 40-year lows, marking the first joint currency operation between the two nations since 2011 and the first time…
Bessent to unveil ‘toughest sanctions in history’ on Iran Monday
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. EDT on Monday to detail what he has called "the toughest sanctions in history" against Iran, marking a deliberate pivot from military strikes to full…
Bessent’s yen, bond moves called ‘financial repression’
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent authorized the sale of euros in exchange for yen on August 1, joining Japan in the first coordinated U.S.-Japan currency intervention since 2011, as the yen languished near 40-year lows against the dollar. The Federal Reserve…
Nomura warns U.S.-Japan ‘currency alliance’ risks repeating 1997 crisis
The United States and Japan have forged what analysts are calling an informal "currency alliance" following their first coordinated foreign exchange intervention since 1998, marking a shift in how the world's two largest advanced economies manage exchange-rate pressures.
Dollar slides to 3-month low as Treasury buyback plan fails to ease fiscal fears
The US dollar slumped to a three-month low on Friday, heading for a weekly decline of nearly 1%, as investors dismissed the Treasury Department's decision to double bond buybacks as a band-aid solution that fails to address America's deteriorating fiscal…
Bessent vows unprecedented economic isolation of Iran
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared on Thursday that Washington will impose economic measures against Iran of a severity "never seen in the history of economic isolation on a country," warning of further announcements next week as the administration escalates…
Bessent, Takaichi split on BOJ policy threatens yen rescue
Less than two weeks after the United States and Japan launched their first joint currency intervention in roughly 15 years, a growing rift between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi over Bank of Japan monetary policy…
Strategists say US-Japan yen intervention is built to fail
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's decision to join Japan in a rare coordinated intervention to support the yen — the first joint U.S.-Japan yen-buying operation since 1998 — is drawing skepticism from currency strategists who argue the effort cannot produce a…
Fed data shows Japan didn’t tap FIMA facility despite Bessent’s expansion push
The first joint US-Japan currency intervention since 1998 has lifted the yen from 40-year lows, but the unprecedented decision to finance the American side by selling euros rather than dollars has drawn criticism from economists who warn the approach may…
Bessent flags Korean won volatility after US-Japan yen intervention
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent flagged "excess volatility" in the South Korean won during a CNBC interview on Tuesday, linking the currency's instability to broader regional dynamics following a rare joint U.S.-Japan intervention to prop up the yen last week.
Bessent backs faster BOJ rate hikes after joint yen intervention
A rare coordinated intervention by the United States and Japan to prop up the battered yen has reshaped the currency landscape in Asia, with Washington publicly endorsing faster interest rate increases by the Bank of Japan and signaling willingness to…
Bessent says BOJ’s Ueda will ‘do what is best’ amid rate hike pressure
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he is confident Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda will "do what is best" for Japan's economy, in remarks reported by NHK on Wednesday that markets widely interpreted as pressure for a near-term interest…