U.S. Treasury yields stabilized on Friday, reversing Thursday's sharp rise to multiyear highs, as elevated yields attracted investors to buy the government bonds.

The 10-year Treasury yield traded fairly flat at 5.239%, staying below a peak of 5.344% hit on Thursday, its highest since 2002, LSEG data showed.

Treasurys began to recover on Thursday afternoon as global risk-off sentiment caused investors to rush into safe-haven assets including U.S. Treasury bonds and German Bunds, Deutsche Bank Research strategists said in a note. This caused Treasurys and Bunds to rally as French government bonds and Italian government bonds underperformed due to fiscal and political concerns.

On Thursday, the French government outlined a budget proposal for 43 billion euros in cuts and cost savings, but the move failed to reassure investors.

Markets awaited U.S. non-farm payrolls data due to be released at 1230 GMT to gain clues on the potential pace of future interest rate rises by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

"A soft but not too soft number would be the sweet spot for the markets," Jefferies' Mohit Kumar said in a note.

Federal Reserve governor Philip Jefferson said the central bank might need more time to assess the direction of the economy before making any additional policy adjustments. This caused investors to further cut back their expectations of a Fed rate hike in October to a probability of just 26%, from over 70% priced earlier in the week, LSEG data show.