Wall Street fell on Wednesday, pulled down by Alphabet and Amazon, as Treasury yields climbed and Iran’s president said Tehran would never surrender to US pressure.
Oil prices were up over 3%, and the S&P 500 energy sector index rallied 1% after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s speech at the UN, a day after US President Donald Trump warned he could “annihilate” Iran.
A survey showed US business activity raced to a more than five-year high in September, pushing government bond yields higher and raising expectations the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates at its October meeting.
Yields on two-year Treasuries touched their highest since 2024, while 10-year Treasury yields hit their highest since 2007.
“The stock market wants a resolution to the (Middle East) conflict, and if we don’t get that, we will have higher rates for longer, and that’s going to continue to weigh on the equity market,” said Lauren Cassidy, chief investment officer at Founders 100 ETF in Dallas.
Meta Platforms rose 2.3%, bringing its gain this week to 13% following a strong reception of its “Muse” AI assistant, which analysts say could benefit tech infrastructure stocks, while challenging banks, online shopping platforms and other consumer businesses.
Google-parent Alphabet fell 3.5% and Amazon, which has blocked Muse from its shopping platform, dropped 2.4%.
The PHLX chip index fell 1.4%, with Nvidia down 1.6%.
Expedia and Airbnb both fell more than 6%.
The Nasdaq recorded record-high closes in the previous two sessions as Wall Street remained optimistic about AI-related companies. The S&P 500 is less than 2% below its record high close on August 13.
US President Donald Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington on Wednesday for a three-day visit. The agenda includes extending the trade truce reached last year between the two superpowers, AI regulation and US arms sales to Taiwan.
The S&P 500 was down 0.65% at 7,714.35 points.
The Nasdaq declined 1.07% to 26,953.87 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.54% at 51,583.98 points.
Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes declined, led lower by financials, down 1.68%, followed by a 0.8% loss in communication services
The S&P 500 is trading just under 19 times expected earnings, its lowest valuation since 2023, according to LSEG data. AI-related heavyweights are responsible for much of the recent increase in earnings expectations.
Markets also parsed comments from Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr, who said the central bank will likely need to deliver further interest rate hikes as inflation remains north of the Fed’s 2% target.
Traders are now pricing in a 71% chance that the Fed will raise interest rates at its policy meeting next month, the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed.
Casual dining chain Cracker Barrel added 6.5% after beating fourth-quarter sales estimates.
Paychex dropped 7.1% after the HR and payroll services provider said that its largest segment missed first-quarter revenue estimates.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones within the S&P 500 by a 1.5-to-one ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 14 new highs and 31 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 36 new highs and 161 new lows.
