A shaky day for oil prices and the bond market leaves US stocks not far
from where they started
[September 25, 2026] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — After whipping through a couple sudden reversals, stocks
ended a shaky day of trading on Wall Street Thursday roughly where they
began.
The S&P 500 finished nearly flat and edged down by less than 0.1%
following several turns between losses and gains. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average dropped 161 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite
added less than 0.1%.
Stocks have slowed their rally since the S&P 500 climbed to the brink of
its all-time high earlier this week as pressure from the bond market has
cranked higher.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 5.20% from 5.11% late
Wednesday and is back to where it was in 2007. High yields slow the
overall economy by making it more expensive to borrow money, while also
undercutting prices for stocks and other investments.
Yields climbed through the morning, which pushed stocks downward, until
they took a sudden turn lower in the midday hours. The 10-year yield
dropped from nearly 5.17% to less than 5.13% in about 20 minutes before
ultimately turning higher again.
Yields once again were following the track of oil prices, which have
been scattershot because of uncertainty about when the war with Iran
will allow crude oil to flow freely again from the Middle East.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude in the most actively traded part
of the market went from $102 to roughly $99 in a matter of minutes
midday Thursday. It later rose to settle at $100.22, up 2.1% from the
prior day.
It’s not just worries about expensive oil and inflation that have sent
Treasury yields higher. The U.S. economy continues to expand, which also
supports yields.
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 raised its
main interest rate last week for the first time in three years in hopes
of slowing the economy and removing some of the fuel for inflation.
Traders now see better than a coin flip’s chance that the Fed could
raise rates twice more by the end of the year, according to data from
CME Group.
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.
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John O'Hara works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New
York, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
 “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 21.6% 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 3% 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 hardest on those seen as the most expensive. That
puts the target on AI stocks, which soared for years in the frenzy
around the technology.
Higher yields also make it more expensive for companies to borrow
money to build AI data centers, which could slow their construction
and restrain demand for AI chips.
Nvidia slipped 0.4% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500.
On the winning side of Wall Street was Everpure. The data storage
and management company’s stock jumped 11.2% after it stood by its
financial forecasts for this fiscal year and said it expects revenue
growth to accelerate in the following one.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 1.90 to 7,704.13 points. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average dropped 161.61 to 51,349.98, and the Nasdaq
composite rose 3.34 to 26,939.37.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly around much of the
world. A drop of 1.2% in Shanghai and gain of 0.8% in Tokyo were two
of the bigger moves.
___
AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.
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