U.S. Stocks Close Sharply Lower As Treasury Yields Spike

Stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session on Thursday, with the Dow eventually joining the broader Nasdaq and S&P 500 in negative territory as the day progressed. The Nasdaq showed a particularly steep drop amid a sell-off by technology stocks.

The major averages all closed in negative territory, although the Nasdaq underperformed its counterparts by a wide margin. The Nasdaq plunged 409.03 points or 3 percent to 13,116.17, while the Dow fell 153.07 points or 0.5 percent to 32,862.30 and the S&P 500 slumped 58.66 points or 1.5 percent to 3,915.46.

The weakness on Wall Street came as another spike in treasury yields renewed concerns about the outlook for high-growth companies.

The yield on the benchmark ten-year note jumped above 1.7 percent to reach its highest levels since January of 2020, while the thirty-year bond yield shot up to its highest levels since last summer.

Yields skyrocketed despite yesterday’s assurances by the Federal Reserve that interest rates will remain at near-zero levels through 2023.

Analysts attributed the jump in yields to concerns that the Fed’s apparent willingness to let inflation accelerate more than normal will reduce the appeal of bonds. Yields move in the opposite direction of bond prices.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 13th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 770,000, an increase of 45,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 725,000.

The rebound came as a surprise to economists, who had expected jobless claims to edge down to 700,000 from the 712,000 originally reported for the previous week.

However, the unexpected increase in jobless claims was partly due to jump in claims in Texas due to the impact of Winter Storm Uri.

A separate report released by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve showed its reading on regional manufacturing activity spiked to a nearly 50-year high in March.

Sector News

Energy stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, moving sharply lower along with the price of crude oil. Crude for April delivery plummeted $4.60 to $60 a barrel amid concerns about the outlook for demand.

Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Oil Index plunged by 5.8 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively.

Significant weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 4.2 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Computer hardware, software and networking stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, contributing to the steep drop by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Meanwhile, banking stocks were among the few groups to buck the uptrend, with the KBW Bank Index climbing by 1.2 percent.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index surged up by 1.2 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index inched up by 0.1 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries remained firmly negative throughout the session after gapping open sharply lower. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, shot up by 8.9 basis points to 1.730 percent.

Looking Ahead

Amid a quiet day on the U.S. economic front, trading on Friday may continue to be driven by activity in the bond markets.

On the earnings front, delivery giant FedEx (FDX) and athletic apparel and footwear giant Nike (NKE) are releasing their quarterly results after the close of today’s trading.