The S&P 500 fell for a second straight session Thursday as the 30-year Treasury yield touched its highest level since 2004 and crude oil climbed again. Oracle's data center setback dragged on tech, while Meta rallied on AI optimism.
Stocks dropped for a second consecutive session Thursday as Treasury yields pushed to multidecade highs. The S&P 500 took a 0.5% hit by late morning. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%. Eighteen of the Dow's 30 components traded lower.
Yields climb to multidecade highs
The sell-off traces back to the bond market. The 30-year Treasury yield touched 5.446%, its highest since June 2004. The 10-year hit 5.15%, matching a July 2007 high. Markets now put the odds of an October rate hike at 71%, up from roughly 55% a week ago. Separately, mortgage rates soared to a multi-year high of 7.1%.
Oil added to the pressure. An advisor to Iran's supreme leader warned that Iran and its Houthi allies could open a new front against Red Sea energy supplies, and a commercial ship was hit in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, killing one Indian crew member. Against that backdrop, oil prices still jumped 1% Thursday morning.
Goldman and Caterpillar drag the Dow, Oracle sinks the Nasdaq
Two names accounted for most of the Dow's decline. Goldman Sachs fell 2.2%, cutting 119 points from the index. Caterpillar dropped 2.1% for another 100 points.
Oracle led the Nasdaq lower, down more than 5% after declaring "force majeure" on Project Jupiter, a $165 billion data center in New Mexico. The 17-mile gas pipeline meant to power the site could not secure environmental permits, pushing the project's ribbon-cutting from August 2026 to February 2027.
Meta Platforms moved the opposite way, up 3.1% as analysts raised price targets. The rally followed the Muse AI shopping-assistance features analysts see driving multi-billion-dollar value for the company.
The moves came as Wall Street digested a Xi-Trump summit that extended the U.S.-China trade truce by two months past its Nov. 10 expiration, shorter than China had sought. According to The Motley Fool, Trump described the relationship emerging between the two economies as "a truly great friendship."
Source: Motley Fool
Trading involves risk.