SQQQ Jumps Nearly 5% As Bond Market Selloff Sends Tech Stocks Sliding

The ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF SQQQ, which aims to deliver three times the inverse performance of the Nasdaq-100 Index, rose 4.85% to $24.74 Wednesday afternoon amid a sharp selloff in U.S. Treasuries and tech stocks.

What To Know: SQQQ gains value when the Nasdaq-100 falls, making it a popular hedge during market downturns, especially for high-growth tech shares sensitive to interest rates. Wednesday's surge came after long-term Treasury yields soared past 5%, sparking a broad decline in rate-sensitive equities.

The spike followed a disappointing $16 billion U.S. Treasury auction for 20-year bonds, which drew weak demand. The bid-to-cover ratio came in at just 2.46, while primary dealers were forced to absorb nearly 17% of the issuance.

Investors are growing uneasy over rising deficits tied to President Donald Trump's proposed $4.1 trillion tax-cut plan, fueling concerns about fiscal sustainability.

Yields on the 30-year Treasury surged to 5.08%, their highest since October 2023. That pushed bond prices, and interest-rate-sensitive stocks, sharply lower, boosting inverse ETFs like SQQQ in the process.