The big fear was that something would break if the US 10-year Treasury yield got above 5 per cent. Turns out the immediate victim was bond yields themselves.

The 10-year yield went as high as 5.02 per cent on Monday night amid chatter that the Bank of Japan could allow bond yields there to move higher. But reaching that 5 per cent mark seemed to act as a sort of siren call for buyers (bond prices move in the opposite direction to yields) who moved in early European trade, which forced yields a little lower.