Bond yields crank higher and pull US stocks further from their record
[September 29, 2026] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — Yields in the U.S. bond market cranked higher Monday and
again touched their highest levels in roughly two decades, which knocked
U.S. stocks further from their record high.
The S&P 500 fell 0.8% and gave back much of its gain from last week,
which had brought it to the brink of its all-time high. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average dropped 347 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite
sank 0.9%.
Stocks felt pressure as the yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly topped
5.27% before pulling back to 5.23%, up from 5.17% late Friday. It’s back
to where it was in 2007, before the financial crisis and Great Recession
sent yields toward zero.
The 30-year Treasury yield rose to 5.55% from 5.49% and is back to where
it was in 2004.
Treasury yields have been rising for a range of reasons, from worries
about inflation to Washington’s massive debt load to signs that the U.S.
economy remains solid despite its many challenges. That pressures the
economy because higher yields make borrowing money more expensive for
everyone, while also undercutting prices for stocks and other
investments.
Monday’s rise in yields followed the latest swings for oil prices, which
have been yo-yoing on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will
allow tankers to flow freely again through the Strait of Hormuz. That
would allow them deliver oil from the Middle East to customers
worldwide.
The latest turns came after President Donald Trump said over the weekend
he’s rejecting an offer from Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and
resume talks on its nuclear program.
“I’d like to make a deal, too,” Trump said Saturday. “But that deal
would not be acceptable.”
The price for Brent crude in the most actively traded part of the oil
market briefly climbed above $101 per barrel Monday morning, but it
pared its gains as U.S. officials said mediators were still working with
Iran and the United States on a deal to end the fighting and open the
strait. It settled at $97.83, up 0.4%.
For all its ups and downs, a barrel of Brent remains much more expensive
than the roughly $72 it cost before the United States and Israel
attacked Iran in late February. That has helped worsen inflation, and
the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is up to nearly $4.48
from $3.13 a year ago, according to AAA.
On Wall Street, stocks of airlines and other companies with big fuel
bills sank because of the rise in oil prices.
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 American Airlines fell 2.5%, and
United Airlines lost 2.2%.
Gold miners were also weak after the price of gold sank 3.5%. Gold
has a reputation for helping to protect its investors from high
inflation, but its price tends to weaken when rising yields mean
bonds are paying investors more in interest. Gold struggles to keep
up because it pays its investors nothing.
Newmont, the Denver-based mining giant, slid 4.4%.
One of Wall Street’s bigger losses hit MongoDB, which dropped 18.5%
after the database company said its CEO, Chirantan “CJ” Desai, is
stepping down immediately to pursue a senior role at Meta Platforms.
Such losses more than offset a 1.7% rise for Nvidia, Wall Street’s
most influential stock.
The chip company’s stock climbed after it said its board approved a
plan to send up to another $150 billion to its shareholders in a
stock buyback plan, bringing the program’s total remaining size to
$235 billion.
Nvidia has the power to do so after the frenzy around its chips used
for artificial-intelligence technology helped it more than double
the amount of cash on its books in the first half of its fiscal
year. The company also on Monday unveiled a new security platform
that the chipmaker said can stop artificial intelligence agents from
going rogue.
AI stocks have broadly come under pressure after leaders of the
industry said it needs to slow its development to give safety
measures time to catch up.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 59.72 points to 7,683.69. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average dropped 347.11 to 51,481.51, and the Nasdaq
composite sank 248.34 to 26,820.38.
In stock markets abroad, European indexes were mixed following
weaker performances across much of Asia.
Indexes dropped 2.7% in Seoul and 1.7% in Shanghai for two of the
world’s bigger moves.
___
AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Michelle Chapman contributed
to this report.
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