Oil and Yields Climb, Stocks Slip From Records as Markets Price Another Fed Hike
U.S. stocks are pulling back from record highs. At Wednesday's close (Oct. 7), the S&P 500 fell 0.22% to 7,801.77, the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.22% to 27,538.69 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.66%, and index futures kept sliding in Thursday's premarket session. The pressure comes from bonds and oil: the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.34% after touching 5.365% intraday on Wednesday, its highest since 2002, while Brent crude jumped more than 4% as attacks on Gulf shipping and a hurricane disrupting U.S. offshore output pushed energy prices higher.
Yields are rising because inflation worries are back. Minutes of the Federal Reserve's September meeting showed most officials judged one more rate hike this year would likely be appropriate, and Governor Christopher Waller said further increases may still be needed, though the pace can be flexible. Traders have since shifted their bets for the next hike from October toward December.
For Chinese-American investors, the setup is high oil prices, high yields and high valuations at once: pricier borrowing squeezes growth and technology shares first, and the Fed's year-end path and the oil price remain the market's main story lines. (Figures as of the U.S. session on Oct. 8. GSM summary of Reuters reporting.)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图片来源：Billie-Grace Ward（CC0，Wikimedia Commons）/ Billie-Grace Ward, CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)
