Treasury yields have risen to over 4.7%, causing stock indexes to decline due to investor expectations of higher borrowing costs resulting from the strength of the economy. The recent surge in yields has shattered hopes that the Federal Reserve would reduce interest rates, making investors wary of riskier assets such as stocks. Moreover, new data reveals that job openings spiked from 8.9 million in July to 9.6 million in August.
As a result of these developments, all three major U.S. stock indexes have dropped by more than 1%, with the Nasdaq Composite leading the decline with a slide of around 1.6%. Furthermore, the Dow industrials have seen a decrease of over 300 points. Additionally, Treasury yields continue to climb, with the 10-year U.S. yield surpassing 4.75%, reaching its highest level since October 2007. On a different note, Netflix’s shares have risen following reports of a planned increase in the price of its ad-free service. In the pharmaceutical sector, Eli Lilly’s acquisition of Point Biopharma, a company specializing in cancer therapies, has caused its shares to surge by over 80% at the market open. The dollar rally has also persisted, as the WSJ Dollar Index rose higher after its highest closing level of the year.
Internationally, stock indexes across Europe and Asia have experienced declines, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng falling by 2.7%. Notably, Chinese markets are closed this week in observance of a holiday.