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US Equity Indexes Fall in Midday Trading as Bond Yields, Oil Prices Rise Despite Treasury Intervention

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US equity indexes fell during midday trading on Thursday as bond yields and oil prices rose after President Donald Trump threatened economic warfare on Iran and its trade partners in a late Wednesday Truth Social post.

The bond yield reversal comes a day after the US Treasury decided to boost repurchases of long-dated government debt to $4 billion per operation from Sept. 9 through Nov. 4.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.8% to 26,120.8, and the S&P 500 declined 0.4% to 7,677.9. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.8% to 53,007.4. Energy and materials led the gainers, while consumer discretionary and consumer staples led the decliners.

The yield on 30-year Treasuries rose 4.8 basis points to 5.242%, while the 10-year yield gained 4.7 basis points to 4.7%.

Gold futures gained 0.4% to $4,565.6 per ounce, and silver futures rose 3.4% to $68.09.

In economic news, the Conference Board's measure of leading indicators rose by 0.2% in July, a larger gain than the 0.1% increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, and following a 0.1% decrease in June.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's monthly manufacturing index rose to 47.4 in August, compared with 41.4 in July and an anticipated decrease to a 24.1 print in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

According to the US Labor Department, US initial jobless claims fell to 206,000 in the week ended Aug. 15 from an upwardly revised 212,000 in the week earlier, and lower than 210,000 expected in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

US natural gas stocks rose by 16 billion cubic feet in the week ended Aug. 14, higher than the 15 billion gain expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following an increase of 36 billion cubic feet in the week prior.

The US West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract rose 2.4% to $87.94 per barrel.

In company news, SpaceX (SPCX) approached Cognition AI about a potential takeover, Bloomberg reported late Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. There are currently no active deal talks between SpaceX and the AI coding startup, but they continue to discuss a potential partnership, per the report. SpaceX shares were down 6%.

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