CCTV Script 11/09/26
– This is the script of CNBC’s financial news report for China’s CCTV on SEPTEMBER 11, 2026.
When an apple travels from the farm to a consumer’s hands, the price tag reflects far more than just the fruit itself, accounting for labor, packaging, transportation, and energy costs. Long before these cumulative expenses filter into the prices consumers pay, they show up on the production side. An important inflation gauge released today in the US tracks price movements at precisely this end of the supply chain.
In August, the US Producer Price Index rose 5.4% year-on-year, exceeding market expectations and signaling that downstream consumer prices may face further upward pressure. This has bolstered market expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike in September.
Market data now indicates that the probability of a 25 basis point rate hike by the Fed in September has climbed from roughly 60% yesterday to over 70%, a shift that is also clearly reflected across bond markets.
During intraday trading today, the 30-year US Treasury yield briefly rose to 5.37%, reaching its highest level since 2007.
Meanwhile, the 10-year US Treasury yield climbed to 4.95%, approaching the critical 5% threshold.
Faced with escalating government borrowing costs, markets are increasingly concerned that Washington lacks an effective tool to swiftly reverse the upward trend in long-term interest rates.
The US Treasury auctioned 22 billion dollars in 30-year bonds today at a high yield of 5.308%, marking the highest winning yield for a 30-year bond auction since 2001. Concurrently, the Treasury recently tripled its maximum buyback limit for long-term Treasuries per operation to 6 billion dollars. Despite these measures, long-term US yields have continued their upward trajectory.
This persistence stems from at least three key drivers concurrently inflating demand for long-term capital and elevating risk premiums: first, inflationary pressures driven by Middle East conflicts and rising energy prices; second, elevated US government debt alongside relentless borrowing demands; and third, an increasingly scrutinized factor, namely the AI investment boom.
Tech giants globally are deploying massive capital into infrastructure construction, competing directly with the US government for long-term capital. Renowned investor Stanley Druckenmiller, a long-time mentor to current US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, characterized the current environment as a war for capital. Druckenmiller also warned of potential earnings bubble risks within the AI sector, revealing he has cut his AI positions to just 20% of their levels six months ago. Furthermore, the Bank for International Settlements explicitly warned that the AI investment boom is introducing new risks to global financial stability.
SCOTT CHRONERT
Managing Director, US Equity Strategist
Citi
“The higher longer rates go, the bigger the interest rate burden these companies face, obviously, and the increased pressure it puts on demonstrating return on investment for these capital expenditures. So all of this falls into the same picture. It’s the duration or persistence of these oil price inflation rate hikes. The market still hasn’t really weighed in completely that this is sort of a new reality for us.”
These risks are by no means isolated to the US, as major economies across Europe and Asia feel similar headwinds. Whether global financing costs are entering a prolonged era of elevated levels will remain a critical focus moving forward.
