NEW YORK (AP) — Pressure continues to bear down on Wall Street from the bond market, keeping U.S. stocks in check on Thursday following what had been a strong rally.
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The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% and is on track for a third straight decline after climbing to the brink of its all-time high, which was set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 182 points, or 0.4%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% lower.
Stocks have slowed under the weight of higher yields in the bond market, which make borrowing money more expensive for everyone. That includes discouraged people hoping to keep up with high inflation, businesses wanting to build data centers for artificial-intelligence technology and the U.S. government trying to cover the massive gap between its spending and revenue.
Yields at their highest levels in years are slowing the overall economy while also undercutting prices for stocks and other investments. The yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly neared 5.15% Thursday morning before pulling back to 5.11%, where it was late Wednesday.
It’s roughly back to where it was in 2007 and up sharply from its 3.97% level before the war with Iran sent oil prices much higher. The price for a barrel of Brent crude in the most actively traded part of the market rose another 2.2% Thursday to $100.29.
That’s helped push up the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline to $4.48 from less than $4.10 a month ago and from $3.16 a year earlier, according to AAA.
It’s not just worries about inflation that’s sent Treasury yields higher. The U.S. economy continues to grow, which also supports yields. The bond market got a major jolt Wednesday after a preliminary report suggested U.S. business activity is growing at its fastest pace in years, while costs for corporate America are also rising quickly.
On Thursday, a report showed fewer U.S workers applied for unemployment benefits last week and further strengthened expectations for the economy.
Such numbers could convince the Federal Reserve that the economy can withstand more hikes to short-term interest rates. The Fed last week raised its main interest rate for the first time in three years in hopes of slowing the economy and removing some of the fuel for inflation.
Traders now see close to a coin flip’s chance that the Fed could raise rates twice more by the end of the year, according to data from the CME Group.
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So far, the solid overall economy has helped U.S. companies continue to deliver strong growth in profits. That in turn has helped their stock prices remain relatively strong despite worries about war, inflation and tariffs.
“The headlines have turned more ominous, but the underlying drivers of growth remain intact,” strategists at Barclays wrote in a report. “As long as AI-related investment, US corporate profitability, and consumer spending continue to beat expectations, the economy and markets seem capable of absorbing tighter central banks and higher rates.”
Stitch Fix became one of the latest U.S. companies late Wednesday to report better quarterly results than analysts expected. But its stock nevertheless tumbled 22.5% after it said “a more challenging consumer environment” could hold back its revenue growth this upcoming fiscal year.
Darden Restaurants, the company behind Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, fell 1.5% after reporting a profit for the latest quarter that matched analysts’ expectations.
High yields in the bond market hurt prices for all kinds of stocks, and they often hit those seen as the most expensive the hardest. That puts the target on AI stocks, which soared in earlier years in the frenzy around the technology. Higher yields could also slow the construction of AI data centers, which would restrain demand for AI chips.
Nvidia sank 1.4% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 because of its massive size.
Helping to keep the market’s losses in check was Everpure. The data storage and management company’s stock jumped 16% after it stood by its financial forecasts for this fiscal year and said it expects revenue growth to accelerate in the following one.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid mostly modest movements. They fell 1.2% in Shanghai and rose 0.8% in Tokyo for two of the world’s bigger moves.
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AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.
