U.S. 5-year Treasury auction on July 27 stop-out yield 4.408%, prior 4.20%.

Alex Vatanka, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, challenged President Trump’s claim that nearly two weeks of U.S. strikes forced Iran back to the negotiating table, saying he does not believe Iran would capitulate solely from military strikes. Vatanka said Iran has signalled to the Trump administration that time favours Tehran and it can endure more pain than the U.S.; the approach is risky but consistent with its recent strategy and he sees no major change. He added that U.S. officials and sources in Washington are discussing the diminishing effectiveness of continued strikes, with most judging them no longer effective, and that the ceasefire looks like a U.S.-initiated attempt to see whether diplomacy can be pursued again.

President Trump said he and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have some differences on Iran.