Advances In Treasury Yields and Crude Oil Price Keep Tech Stocks and S&P 500 Down

Barry Adams
28 Sep, 2023
New York City

Surging bond yields and crude oil prices kept benchmark indexes down.

Divided investors worry about the U.S. economy's health and the Federal Reserves' next policy moves after the latest weekly jobless claims were below expectations.

Initial jobless claims for the week ending September 23rd edged 2,000 higher to 204,000, but stayed near a 7-month low reached in the previous week, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday.  

The weaker-than-expected jobless claims followed durable goods orders and new homes sales data, suggesting that the U.S. economy is resilient and labor market conditions are still tight. 

In other economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department said real gross domestic product increased at 2.1% in the second quarter from a year ago. 

The government report left the growth estimate unrevised after after third and final estimate but the agency also significantly revised first quarter growth estimate between 2020 and 2022. 

First quarter GDP growth in 2020 was revised to a decline of 5.3% from the previous estimate of 4.6%, in 2021 to 5.2% from 6.2% and in 2022 to a decline of 1.6% from 2.2% reported previously.   

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds jumped to a 16-year high after the release jobless claims as investors feared that the Federal is more likely to keep its  higher-for-longer stance well into 2024.  

 

U.S. Indexes & Yields 

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.03% to 4,274.06 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1% to 13,082.52. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes increased to 5.11%, 10-year Treasury notes inched lower to 4.56% and 30-year Treasury bonds edged down to 4.80%. 

Crude oil increased $1.30 to $92.38 a barrel and natural gas prices rose 5 cents to $2.95 a thermal unit. 

The dollar index edged higher to 106.28, the level last seen in November 2022 and extended gains from the low of 99.85 on July 13, 2023.  

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Micron Technology Inc declined 4.5% to $65 after the advanced chipmaker reported smaller-than-expected loss in the fiscal fourth quarter. 

However, investors were disappointed with the company's adjusted earnings per share outlook of $1.07 in the fiscal first quarter. 

GameStop Corp edged up 0.1% to $17.17 after the company appointed activist investor Ryan Cohen as the company's chief executive effective immediately. 

The company fired its chief executive Matthew Furlong three months after the retailer continued to struggle with sales and its restructuring plan.