Oil Prices Surge, Wall Street Sinks Amid Interest Rate Worries
Wall Street's main indexes fell on Wednesday as crude oil prices and bond yields climbed. The S&P 500 lost 41.98 points, or 0.54%, to 7,722.66, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 279.08 points, or 0.54%, to 51,585.28.
The price of oil rose over 3% after five straight sessions of declines, bouncing off a near two-week low. This added to market concerns that the Federal Reserve could hike interest rates further.
US business activity raced to a more than five-year high in September, according to a survey, spurring government bond yields higher. However, Oliver Allen, senior US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said 'This report indicates that downstream price pressures remain intense, but it paints a more mixed picture of pass-through to consumers.'
The dueling speeches between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump bookended the first US-Iran shuttle talks in months. The talks underscored the lack of progress toward ending the Middle East conflict.