It's been an interesting and frustrating couple of days for the bond market with yields spiking for reasons that leave many bond watchers guessing.  A market participant who's heavily involved in month-end trading/positioning may be more inclined to see the sell-off through that lens.  A market participant who is more focused on politics would favor the political explanation (i.e. increased odds of a GOP sweep after the debate).

Either way, the weakness was not conveniently tied to a single moment and headline in the manner typical of big ticket economic data or Fed speeches.  Today's session begins to heal those wounds to some extent. Fed Chair Powell spoke at the SINTRA conference, but didn't have anything new or remarkable to say.  Bonds seemed to appreciated the absence of hawkish comments as they nursed a gentle overnight rally. JOLTS data was close to consensus and kept yields in the AM range despite initial selling in the day's heaviest volume.