The International Monetary Fund said it was closely monitoring longer-term US treasuries, as uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump's tariffs cause mayhem across financial markets.
In its Global Financial Stability Report published on Tuesday, the IMF said Mr Trump's tariffs had “significantly” increased risks to financial stability.
The report comes as Mr Trump's agenda hangs over the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington.
Global markets slumped after the US leader's announcement on April 2 was larger and broader than analysts had expected, leading to a mass sell-off over fears of a potential US-led global economic downturn. But it was the surge in the bond market that led Mr Trump to pare back his so-called reciprocal tariffs one week after the announcement.
Investors typically snap up government bonds during times of market volatility, but instead the yield on the 10-year Treasury surged to 4.51 per cent while the yield on the 30-year topped 5 per cent. Yields on the 10 and 30-year treasuries have climbed down to about 4.37 per cent and 4.85 per cent, respectively.
“We are looking at the pricing of long-dated treasuries very carefully,” Tobias Adrian, director of the IMF's monetary and capital markets department, said at a news briefing. “We have seen a volatility in the prices moves but these are within normal historic norms. We have not seen disorderly leveraging at this point.”
His remarks came a day after the US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell to a three-year low. That has sparked concerns of the dollar's status as a safe haven.
“What is somewhat unusual is that the dollar has been falling to some degree but it's important to keep it in the context of a strong dollar rally previously,” Mr Adrian said.
He added that it was unusual to see the dollar declining at the same time as longer-term yields increasing but it was “too early to tell” how long-lasting that would be.
Central bank independence
The latest bout of market volatility comes as Mr Trump steps up his attacks on Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, threatening the central bank's independence.
His threats against Mr Powell – recently posting on social media that his “termination cannot come soon enough!” – could also shake the confidence of investors who rely on an independent central bank's monetary policy decisions.
Mr Powell had said the President's levies could put the Fed in the difficult position of having to choose between its two mandates: price stability and maximum employment.
“We have seen time and time again that central bank independence is the bond foundation for central banks to achieve their goals,” Mr Adrian said.
Those remarks echoed sentiments made by IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, who earlier said central banks must preserve their independence to maintain credibility in fighting inflation.
And speaking on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings, European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde told CNBC that she hoped Mr Trump would not try to fire Mr Powell.
Mr Powell maintains that the President does not have the legal authority to fire him or governors on the Federal Reserve Board.