Strong Demand for 30-Year U.S. Treasury Bonds Caps Week of Issuance — Evening Brief – 06.12.25
After a lukewarm U.S. 3-year note sale and a solid 10-year note auction earlier in the week, investor attention turned to Thursday’s $25 billion U.S. 30-year bond auction—widely viewed as the most challenging of the week’s Treasury supply. However, the results were nothing short of exceptional, marking one of the best long-bond sales in recent months. The sale witnessed robust demand, particularly from foreign buyers, dispelling concerns and reinforcing confidence in U.S. long-term debt.
The auction priced at a high yield of 4.844%, slightly above last month’s 4.819% and the highest since January. Crucially, it stopped through the When-Issued yield by 1.5 basis points—a strong performance relative to last month’s 2.6 basis point tail and the second-best stop-through since November.
Demand metrics further highlighted the auction’s success. The bid-to-cover ratio climbed to 2.430 from 2.314 in May and the second highest since January, surpassing the six-auction average of 2.392. This elevated participation reflected broad investor enthusiasm, particularly in a market grappling with increased long-duration supply from both the U.S. and other major economies like Japan.
Internals revealed even more compelling dynamics. Foreign buyers drove the strength, with indirect bidders awarded 65.2% of the issue—their largest share since January and well above April’s 58.9%. Direct bidders took 23.4%, slightly down from last month’s 27.2%, but still above the recent average. That left primary dealers with just 11.4%, the smallest dealer allocation since November, highlighting broad market appetite.
Markets responded favorably. The 10-year yield dipped to 4.34%, near session lows and below levels seen before last Friday’s jobs report, before slightly retracing. Despite the stellar outcome, market participants remain cautious about the broader issuance landscape. The U.S. Treasury is projected to issue significant long-duration debt in the coming months to finance fiscal deficits, which could strain demand if global risk sentiment shifts.