Treasury Sells $42 Billion in 10-Year Notes at 5.020% Before Veterans Day
The Treasury’s Nov. 10 auction cleared at 5.020%, while the daily 10-year benchmark rose to 4.98%. Those figures measure different things, and neither is a mortgage quote.
By Christopher Salem · 3 min read
The U.S. Treasury sold $42 billion in new 10-year notes on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at a high yield of 5.020%. The official auction results show about $103.3 billion in bids for roughly $42 billion awarded, a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.46. It was the second of three sales in this week’s quarterly refunding.
Separately, the Treasury’s daily 10-year par yield was 4.98% on Tuesday, up from 4.88% on Monday. The two readings are not interchangeable. The auction yield is the highest accepted yield for one new security at a particular sale. The daily benchmark is the Treasury’s estimate for the 10-year point on its yield curve. Comparing those two figures does not tell you whether the auction was weaker than traders expected.
What comes after the holiday
The 10-year sale sits between Monday’s $58 billion three-year note auction and Thursday’s scheduled $25 billion 30-year bond auction. The Treasury’s refunding statement said the three sales would raise about $28 billion in new cash from private investors after replacing about $97 billion in maturing privately held debt. The sales are scheduled to settle Monday, Nov. 16.
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association recommended a full close on Nov. 11 for U.S. dollar fixed-income trading in observance of Veterans Day. That recommendation covers Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. It is not a blanket requirement for individual firms, and it does not mean every mortgage lender stops issuing quotes. The 30-year Treasury sale is scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, Nov. 12.
Why borrowers should watch the benchmark, not the auction yield
As Fannie Mae explains, the 10-year Treasury is a useful benchmark for fixed mortgage rates, but the gap between the two can widen or narrow. Investors’ pricing of mortgage-backed securities and lenders’ own pricing both help determine the rate a borrower sees. A 10-basis-point increase in the Treasury’s daily benchmark does not translate into an automatic 10-basis-point increase on a loan quote.
For borrowers closing soon, the useful question on a holiday is whether a quote can be locked and for how long. If comparing offers on Thursday, ask lenders for quotes with the same lock period and check the points and lender credits alongside the rate. That gives you a better comparison than trying to turn one Treasury auction result into a prediction about your own loan.
U.S. Treasury Building, Washington, D.C., Oct. 12, 2026. Photo: G. Edward Johnson via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Archival photo of the building, not of the auction; used at the 1280 × 1024 Commons rendition, uncropped (social previews may show a center crop).