Live Markets: Wall Street turns red as benchmark Treasury yield touches 19-year high

The Progressive

23/09/2026 21:22

Major US stock indexes close lower; Nasdaq ends down ~1.1%
Comm svcs down most among S&P 500 sectors; energy sole gainer
Dollar rallies ~0.6%; US crude up ~2.5%; gold down >1.5%; bitcoin down >2%
US 10-year Treasury yield jumps to ~5.10%, off session high of 5.135%
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WALL STREET TURNS RED AS BENCHMARK TREASURY YIELD TOUCHES 19-YEAR HIGH
Wall Street lost ground on Wednesday as US Treasury yields spiked and crude prices resumed their seemingly endless ascent.
All three major US stock indexes ended red, with the tech-loaded Nasdaq .IXIC falling the most, ending 1.1% lower after reaching record closing highs on Monday and Tuesday. Small caps had an even worse day, with the Russell 2000 .RUT ending the session down 1.8%. 
Front-month WTI CLc1 and Brent LCOc1 crude futures settled up 1.8% and 3.9%, respectively, after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly that Tehran would never surrender, and condemned Trump's "bullying mentality."
The Iran war, now close to entering its eighth month, has rattled markets and raised fears that the resulting upward pressure on energy prices would morph into broader, systemic inflation.
Those fears have prompted central banks around the globe, including the Federal Reserve, to tighten monetary policy by raising borrowing rates. Rising oil prices raise questions about the length and extent of rate hikes to come.
Additionally, S&P Global's "Flash" PMI report showed the US economy is going gangbusters this month, expanding at a much faster pace than analysts expected, and is therefore more likely to absorb whatever Warsh & Co throw at it.
That, in turn, sent the benchmark US Treasury yield to its highest level since "Transformers" ruled the box office (July 2007).
On the sector level, energy .SPNY provided a rare glimpse of green, as did the S&P Software & Services index .SPLRCIS, while travel/leisure .SPCOMHOTL, airlines .SPCOMAIR and gold & silver miners .XAU were the clear underperformers, each sliding 3% or more.
Thursday brings day two of the high-stakes—and potentially tense—Trump/Xi summit in Washington, at which the leaders of the world's two largest economies will likely discuss technology, trade and geopolitical tensions. 
In economics, aside from the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report, on Thursday the Commerce Department will release its new home sales data for August.
Here's your closing snapshot:
(Stephen Culp)
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Closing snapshot https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-STOCKS/zjpqleoadvx/closer.png