U.S. stocks ended lower Thursday as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note traded just shy of the closely watched 5% threshold after a bout of choppy trading following midday remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.What’s happening
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA
finished 250.91 points lower, down 0.7%, at 33,414.17.
The S&P 500
SPX
fell 36.60 points, or 0.8%, to end at 4,278.
The Nasdaq Composite
COMP
closed at 13,186.17, down 128.12 points, or 1%.
On Wednesday, the Dow fell 333 points, or 1%, to 33,665, snapping a three-day winning streak as main indexes turned lower for the week.
What’s driving markets It was all eyes on the bond market as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
pushed to within less than a basis point of the psychologically important 5% threshold. The yield ended North American trading up 8.5 basis points at 4.987%, its highest since July 20, 2007, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Read: Why stock-market investors are fixated on 5% as 10-year Treasury yield nears key threshold The yield had pulled back amid remarks by Powell, who said the Fed may need to do more to rein in inflation but also said policy makers would proceed with caution — language that analysts saw as a signal rates would remain on hold, as already expected, on Nov. 1, and likely in December as well. “Jerome Powell continues to walk a middle line between hawk and dove. The Fed still isn’t sure whether it’s done enough,” said David Russell, head of global strategy at TradeStation. “He noted positives in the labor market, but it’s hard to get too dovish given this week’s retail sales and jobless claims. So he’s keeping his options open and waiting for more clarity before committing either way,” During a question-and-answer session that followed his prepared remarks, Powell acknowledged that rising Treasury yields were leading to tighter financial conditions, which could a …
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