Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq slide as bond yields rebound after Treasury intervention, oil rises
US stocks fell on Thursday after President Trump vowed to squeeze Iran economically, sending oil prices higher, while bond yields also rebounded after the US Treasury’s surprise move to intervene in the market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.8%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) slipped 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) declined by 0.8% after all three major indexes notched winning sessions on Wednesday.
Walmart (WMT) stock fell by over 9%, dragging down consumer stocks after the retailer reported strong earnings but slowing US sales growth as customers made “trade-offs” due to high gas prices.
Markets continued to reel after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stepped in to lower long-dated government bond yields, which could complicate Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh’s intention to allow the markets to do some of the tightening for the Fed.
On Thursday, Bessent told CNBC that Treasury buybacks could exceed $4 billion and that the move was done in part “to show that we believe that the yields don’t reflect the underlying fundamentals.”
However, Treasurys ticked back up in early trading on Thursday. The 10-year yield (^TNX) rose by 5 basis points to 4.70%, while the 30-year yield (^TYX) increased by 6 basis points to 5.25%. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) surged above the $70,000 level for the first time since early June.
At the same time, more attention turned to the United States’ financial health as the national debt surpassed $40 trillion, having more than doubled in less than a decade.
Read more: How the soaring federal debt affects you personally
Oil prices, meanwhile, pushed higher as Trump grew more frustrated about the lack of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the Iran war. On Wednesday evening, President Trump posted on Truth Social that the US plans to unleash an “ECONOMIC D-DAY” against Iran that entails “Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.”
Brent crude (BZ=F) topped $93 per barrel on Thursday, and WTI crude (CL=F) rose to $86 per barrel.
