Treasury yields move higher as oil prices rise amid U.S.-Iran standoff

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note — the key benchmark for U.S. government borrowing — rose more than 5 basis points to 4.349%.

The 2-year Treasury note yield, which more closely tracks short-term Federal Reserve interest rate policy, was up 5 basis points at 3.844%. The longer-dated 30-year Treasury bond yield added more than 3 basis points to 4.941%.

One basis point is equal to 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy said in a statement that it had seized the ships for what it claimed were maritime violations and transferred them to Iranian shores, according to state media. CNBC could not independently verify the claim.

The announcement came after U.K. maritime authorities said two ships had been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian media reported a third vessel had also been targeted by the country’s military.

The attacks come shortly after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would extend the ceasefire with Iran to allow for the Islamic Republic’s leaders to submit a “unified proposal” to end the war.

Complicating the situation, however, was Iran’s parliament speaker resigning from the negotiating team, according to Israel’s N12 news. The report, which CNBC has not confirmed, sent oil prices higher.

On the economic front, the S&P Global Flash U.S. PMI data for April, a measure of the economic health of American manufacturing and services sectors, came in at 54.0, better than the 52.5 Dow Jones consensus estimate.

Initial claims totaled 214,000 for the week ending April 18, up from 208,000 in the week prior, and above the 210,000 Dow Jones consensus estimate.

— CNBC’s Sam Meredith also contributed to this report.