Bond Sell-Off Fails to Dampen Wall Street Gains
Wall Street closed higher on Friday despite a continued sell-off in the bond market. The materials sector and cryptocurrency-related stocks helped offset the decline, with copper prices hitting records due to supply shortages and demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure spending.
The 30-year yield rose by 3.6 basis points to 5.273%, while the 10-year yield increased by 3.7 basis points to 4.735%. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the size of proposed buybacks could be more than the announced $4 billion and touted a 'big toolkit' to bring down yields.
Business activity growth rose to 56.0 in August, the fastest pace since April 2022, driven by strong services sector business activity. However, manufacturing growth hit a five-month low due to supply delays and rising energy prices.