US stocks: Wall Street ends down as oil prices, Treasury yields rise
All three major indices closed lower for the day
On Wednesday, September 23, Wall Street saw stocks close lower after a volatile day. Alphabet and Amazon were among the companies that contributed to the decline in the major indices. This decline was further fueled by rising Treasury yields and an assertive stance from Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, who declared Teheran would never cave in to US pressure. Oil prices surged nearly 4% after Iran's president's speech at the UN, following US President Donald Trump's warning that he could "annihilate" Iran.
US business activity surged to a five-year high in September, which in turn pushed government bond yields higher, raising expectations for the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates during its October meeting. A survey indicated that yields on 2-year Treasuries had reached their highest level since 2024, while 10-year Treasury yields hit their highest mark since 2007.
Among the companies affected by the market downturn, Meta Platforms gained 1% for the week due to the positive reception of its AI assistant, "Muse," which could benefit tech infrastructure stocks and challenge traditional banking and consumer businesses. Conversely, Google's parent company, Alphabet, dropped 3.8%, and Amazon, which has blocked Meta's "Muse" from its shopping platform, fell by 2.2%.
The Nasdaq, known for its optimism towards AI-related companies, recorded record-high closes in the previous two sessions. However, the S&P 500 was still below its record high close of August 13 by less than 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also declined by 0.68%, ending the day at 51,511.59 points. Overall, the S&P 500 declined 0.75% to conclude the session at 7,706.05 points.
Written by urgent.news from The Business Times - Companies & Markets's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
