Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Sept. 25, 2026.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
U.S. equities fell on Wednesday, a day after the S&P 500 reached a fresh all-time high, as oil prices moved higher alongside Treasury yields.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 503 points, or 1%, while the S&P 500 shed 0.6%. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.7%.
U.S. crude prices moved back above $90 per barrel after rising 1%. International Brent crude futures, meanwhile, traded nearly 1% higher at around $102 per barrel. Those moves led yields, which took a breather in the previous session, to resume the recent surge that drove them to multiyear highs.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield climbed more than 8 basis points to trade at 5.356%. The yield reached its highest level since April 2002. The 30-year bond yield gained more than 8 basis points to 5.725%. It had hit its highest level since May 2002.
The moves come ahead of a planned auction by the Treasury Wednesday, in which it’s planning to sell $39 billion of 10-year notes.
The S&P 500 closed above 7,800 for the first time on Tuesday, led by gains in chipmakers. Bond yields also eased, giving equities a boost.
“Stocks have gotten cheaper since January which is ironic, since we’re hitting all-time highs,” said Nancy Tengler, CEO and CIO of Laffer Tengler. “I don’t mind multiple compression because it tells me that this bull market is sustainable and it elongates it. I like where we sit for this bull market, and earnings growth does ultimately drive stock price performance.”
Investors are awaiting the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting in September, at which the U.S. central bank raised interest rates for the first time since 2023. Minutes are set to shed light on how monetary policymakers are thinking about economic conditions.
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