10-Year U.S. Treasury Yield Touches 4%

The yield on 10-year U.S. government bonds briefly touched 4% for the first time in more than a decade Wednesday, the latest leg of a historically steep rise that has jolted financial markets this year.

U.S. Treasury yields, which rise when bond prices fall, extended recent gains early in the overnight trading session, putting the 10-year yield as high as 4.017%, according to Tradeweb. They then fell sharply, however, after the Bank of England announced emergency measures to buy longer-term U.K. government debt—at least temporarily stabilizing a market that has been the center of investors’ fears in recent days.