The 10-year Treasury yield, which heavily influences consumer borrowing rates such as mortgages, rose as high as 5.08%, its highest level since June 2007. The 30-year Treasury yield hit 5.38%, also a level not seen since before the global financial crisis nearly two decades ago. European Brent oil rose to more than $101 per barrel, while U.S. crude oil jumped to nearly $92.
Rising oil prices often translate into rising bond yields due to the effect that higher energy costs can have on inflation. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump had said that U.S. officials were communicating with Iranian representatives at the U.N. General Assembly, driving down oil prices and giving some optimism to markets about potentially ending the Iran war, now in its seventh month.
A readout of the U.S.-Iran discussions later Tuesday from U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff on social media said that the talks were “lengthy,” but that there was still more work to be done, and the “mediators will continue their work.” Then, Wednesday morning, the U.K. maritime trade monitoring agency reported that a cargo vessel had been “stuck by an unknown projectile” in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy supplies, which has remained at a near standstill for months as a result of the Iran war. Trump also unsettled energy prices when he said Tuesday that he supported a ban on U.S. exports of diesel fuel. I’ve been talking about it.” The energy industry on Wednesday warned that a ban on exports would spell even higher prices for Americans.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright also said a ban would not help to bring down prices. Benchmark diesel futures surged as much 7% in European trade after Trump’s remarks. On top of rising energy prices, fresh economic data points also helped propel Treasury yields higher.
Stocks fell as a result of the moves in yields and oil prices. As of midday, the Nasdaq Composite index had tumbled 1% and the S&P 500 had fallen 0.6%. The Dow declined 270 points.
Some of the stocks that were the biggest decliners were all inflation sensitive, such as travel stocks and large technology firms. The S&P utilities sector, which contains many companies involved in the widespread buildout of data centers, was the biggest sector loser Wednesday. Higher interest rates could potentially add billions of dollars of costs to building AI infrastructure.
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