Wall Street drifts as bond yields rise and oil prices swing

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is drifting toward the finish of an up -and- down week on Friday, and U.S. stock indexes are mixed as bond yields rise and oil prices swing.The S&P 500 fell 0.1% in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 235 points, or 0.5%, as of 11:03 a.m.

Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was nearly unchanged.The majority of stocks on Wall Street fell, and helping to weaken them was rising pressure from the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 5.00% from 4.94% late Thursday after it topped the 5% level early this week for the first time since 2023.Higher yields slow the overall economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, from the U.S. government to people looking to buy houses to businesses wanting to build AI data centers.

They also tend to undercut prices for stocks and other investments.Yields have been climbing in a long march since the COVID pandemic knocked them nearly to zero in 2020. The ascent has accelerated recently because inflation has remained stubbornly high for years, and it’s worsened due to higher oil prices caused by the war with Iran.The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, got to nearly $110 early this week, up from a little over $70 in July. It has been seesawing since.It briefly dropped below $102 in overnight trading before erasing much of the loss and pulling back to $104.15, down 0.6% from the day before.High inflation has been raising expenses for everyone, and more companies are giving details about how much.Steel maker Nucor said late Thursday that it expects to report an increase in profit from its steel mills business in the third quarter from the second because it’s able to charge higher prices.

But it’s also having to absorb higher costs. It gave a forecast for overall profit in the third quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations, and its stock sank 6.1%.Elsewhere on Wall Street, Berkshire Hathaway slipped 0.3% after famed investor Warren Buffett said he’s giving up his role as chairman of the company. Buffett already gave up his role as CEO of the company, where he built a reputation for buying stocks at relatively cheap prices and being patient with his investments.In stock markets abroad, indexes slumped across Europe, including drops of 1.6% for the CAC 40 in Paris and 1.4% for London’s FTSE 100.Asian index…

stock indexes are mixed following losses in Europe and gains for Asia.The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 139 points, of 0.3%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.The majority of stocks on Wall Street fell, and helping to weaken them was rising pressure from the bond market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.98% from 4.94% late Thursday after it topped the 5% level early this week for the first time since 2023.Higher yields slow the overall economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, from the U.S.