US Stocks Rise Amid Stabilizing Bond Yields and Ongoing Conflict with Iran
US stocks opened higher on Thursday, following a mostly positive August where every major index notched a gain for the month. The S&P 500 rose by 1.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite closed 1.4% higher.
The rally was led by big technology and communication services stocks, including Microsoft, which rose 2.7%, Apple, up 1%, and Meta, climbing 3%. Nvidia also contributed to the gains, increasing 1.8% after announcing its acquisition of Hugging Face for $13 billion.
Despite initial gains in oil prices due to the ongoing US-Iran conflict, Brent crude fell by 0.1% to settle at $95.52 per barrel, while benchmark US crude edged up 0.3% to settle at $91.30 a barrel.
Bond yields showed signs of stabilizing, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury dropping to 4.77% from 4.79%, and the yield on the 2-year Treasury sliding to 4.34% from 4.39%. Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller's remarks hinted that the Fed might not raise short-term interest rates at its next policy meeting in two weeks, as long as new data shows inflation is cooling.