U.S. Treasurys Extend Selloff After House Narrowly Passes Trump Tax Plan

Barry Adams
22 May, 2025
New York City

Wall Street indexes struggled to rebound from the previous session's losses, and bond yields edged higher after the U.S. House passed the budget bill. 

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.3% amid worries of rising U.S. debt levels, higher interest rates, and increased deficit. 

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the budget bill after a 21-hour marathon session in a vote across party lines. Not a single Democrat voted for the bill. 

The bill advances to the U.S. Senate before it goes to the U.S. president for his approval. 

The budget proposal in its current form is likely to add between $3 trillion and $5 trillion to the U.S. debt over the next 10 years, deteriorating the U.S. fiscal position further. 

The worries of the federal government's rising deficit and the debt levels sparked a selloff for the second consecutive session, and the U.S. dollar weakened in early trading. 

 

Commodities, Currencies, Indexes, Yields

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.1% to 5,837.34, the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.2% to 18,907.52, and the Russell 2000 index declined 0.4% to 2,038.84.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 3.99%, 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.59%, and 30-year Treasury bonds advanced to 5.10%.

WTI crude oil decreased $0.91 to $60.66 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged lower by $0.08 to $3.29 a thermal unit.

Gold decreased by $14.58 to 3,306.15 an ounce, and silver edged down by $0.47 to $32.99.

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, increased by 0.23 to 99.79 and traded at the lowest level since April 2022.

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Urban Outfitters soared 17% to $70.14 after the specialty apparel retailer reported better-than-quarterly profit. 

Net sales jumped to $1.33 billion from $1.20 billion, net income surged to $108.35 million from $61.76 million, and diluted earnings per share rose to $1.16 from 65 cents a year ago.

The company said total inventory as of April 30 stood at $84.8 million, an increase of 14.6% from a year earlier, and the company opened 13 new retail locations.

Snowflake Inc. soared 10.6% to $197.28, and the cloud-storage company reported a solid first quarter. 

Lumen Technologies Inc. soared 10.2% to $4.118 after AT&T agreed to acquire nearly all of Mass Markets' high-speed internet fiber business.