The US markets ended lower on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq retreating from all-time highs as bond yields hit a fresh 24-year high, while investors digested the minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting. US Treasuries weakened with the 10-year and 30-year yields both hitting their highest since mid-2002 at 5.361% and 5.730%, respectively. Meanwhile, a Treasury auction saw the sale of $39bn-worth of 10-year notes at a yield of 5.300%, the highest paid in an auction since late-2000. Besides, AI infrastructure stocks erased their gains from earlier this week amid the increasing impact of high yields and credit spreads on their orders. Moreover, minutes from September’s FOMC meeting showed that many policymakers were happy to wait until December for a further rate hike.
On the economic data front, according to the latest Survey of Consumer Expectations, median US inflation expectations for the year ahead rose 0.3 percentage point to 3.9% in September 2026, the highest level since May 2023. Year-ahead price expectations increased across several key categories. Gasoline expectations rose 1.7 percentage points to 4.6%, food to 5.3%, and medical care to 9.1%. Meanwhile, US crude inventories fell by 3.186 million barrels in the week ended October 2nd, the biggest drop in five weeks, compared to market expectations for a 1.7 million-barrel rise, and following a 0.922 million barrel increase in the previous week.
Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 341.41 points or 0.66 percent to 51,179.87, Nasdaq fell by 61.19 points or 0.22 percent to 27,538.69 and S&P 500 was down by 17.16 points or 0.22 percent to 7,801.77.
About The Author
