U.S. Indexes Struggled to Advance as Oil Traded at 6-Week High and Bond Yields Climbed Higher

Barry Adams
08 Sep, 2026
New York City

U.S. stocks traded down at the start of the holiday-shortened week amid resurgent crude oil prices and escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada. 

The S&P 500 Index decreased 0.4%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.3%, and the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes inched higher to 4.80%. 

West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices per barrel jumped 2.6% to $93.56, and Brent crude edged up 1.3% to $98.44.  

The state-controlled Saudi Press Agency reported attacks halted operations at several energy facilities in the south of the Kingdom. 

Iran-backed Houthi militants claimed responsibility for targeting the 400,000 barrel-per-day Jazan refinery and other facilities and launching attacks on several Saudi cities. 

Despite the U.S. president's often repeated claims that Iran's economy has been "permanently ruined to the stone age," the Islamic Republic has continued to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the critical artery for global oil and energy products. 

Crude oil prices rose to six-week highs amid prolonged disruptions of trade through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing the yield on a 10-year Treasury note to the highest since November 2023. 

On the economic front, investors are awaiting the data on wholesale inflation on Thursday and consumer inflation on Friday, and the Federal Reserve is scheduled to hold its policy meeting next week. 

The U.S. president threatened to halt all sales from Canada-based Bombardier as Canada imposed a retaliatory tariff on about $20 billion of U.S. goods effective Tuesday.   

In Asia, markets in Japan fell 1.7%, benchmark indexes in China decreased 0.4%, and Hong Kong fell 0.35%. 

European indexes retreated on Tuesday; benchmark indexes in Frankfurt decreased 0.4%, in Paris declined 0.2%, but in London rose 0.1%.  

 

U.S. Movers 

Novartis AG plunged 12.5% to $139.96 after the Swiss pharma company said its del-desiran drug for muscle wasting disorder failed in a late-stage trial.

The company's shares suffered its worst one-day decline after the pharmaceutical developer experienced its third drug trial setback in a week.   

Wistron Corp. dropped 5.2% to NT $186.50 after the Nvidia supplier priced its global depository receipt to finance raw materials purchases. 

On Monday, the company priced 250 million new common shares at about NT $186.24 each, representing about 7.29% of outstanding shares before the issuance. 

The company priced its offering at a 5.5% discount to its Monday closing price of NT $197.