Investing.com - Wall Street slumped on Wednesday as Treasury yields continued to push higher.
The S&P 500 fell 15 points, or 0.55%, to 2,864.51 as of 9:39 AM ET (13:39 GMT), while the Dow decreased 117 points, or 0.44%, to 26,313.22 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 75 points, or 0.97%, to 7,662.84.
The yield on the benchmark United States 10-year note was at 3.229% after reaching a seven-year high of 3.261% the day before, while the United States 30-year Treasury bond rose to 3.391%, not far from a four-year peak of 3.44%.
Treasury yields started to climb last week as upbeat economic data increased expectations the Federal Reserve will raise rates in December and beyond.
CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) was among the top gainers in early trading, rising 1.09%, while medical marijuana company Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) increased 1.99% and McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) gained 0.36%.
Elsewhere, Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD) slumped 32.64% after news that the retailer is working with banks to file bankruptcy. Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) fell 1.23%, while Snap (NYSE:SNAP) slipped 1.71% after the company announced it was introducing scripted shows for its app in an attempt to lure more users.
In Europe stocks were down. Germany’s DAX slumped 147 points, or 1.23%,while in France the CAC 40 decreased 73 points, or 1.38%, and in London the FTSE 100 was down 31 points, or 0.43%. Meanwhile, the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost 30 points, or 0.90%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 dipped 48 points, or 0.52%.
In commodities, gold futures inched up 0.04% to $1,192.00 a troy ounce, while crude oil futures fell 0.80% to $74.34 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, decreased 0.07% to 95.29.