NEW YORK, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks finished lower on Wednesday as a sharp surge in U.S. Treasury yields triggered a sell-off.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 352.1 points, or 0.68 percent, to 51,511.59. The benchmark S&P 500 fell 58.61 points, or 0.75 percent, to 7,706.03, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shed 308.24 points, or 1.13 percent, to 26,936.04.
Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in the red, with communication services and utilities pacing the decliners, tumbling 1.89 percent and 1.88 percent, respectively. Bucking the broad downturn, the energy sector advanced 1.04 percent.
Equities faced heavy pressure from a violent sell-off in the fixed-income market following the release of robust purchasing managers' index readings. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note surged to 5.13 percent, touching its highest level since July 2007 and registering its largest single-day jump since April 2025. Meanwhile, the policy-sensitive two-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.947 percent, its highest mark since May 2024.
Monetary tightening concerns were further reinforced by Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr, who warned on Wednesday that additional policy adjustments will likely be required to rein in persistent inflation.
"Economic growth is strong and the labor market is solid, but inflation is above our 2 percent target and not clearly trending toward target in a timely way," Barr said. "Moreover, risks to achieving our inflation target have increased, while risks to the labor market have receded."
Following Barr's remarks, market expectations for a 25-basis-point interest rate increase at the central bank's October meeting climbed above 66 percent, according to the CME FedWatch tool, up from 55.4 percent a day earlier and well above the 8.8 percent probability recorded a month ago.
In corporate developments, fast-food giant McDonald's slid 4.81 percent to lead decliners on the Dow Jones Industrial Average after announcing a capital expenditure program of approximately 8.5 billion U.S. dollars through 2036, aimed at modernizing franchised restaurants and upgrading digital operations.
On the corporate earnings front, shares of restaurant chain Cracker Barrel Old Country Store rose nearly 4.5 percent and packaged food producer General Mills gained 1.04 percent following their quarterly reports. Conversely, human resources software provider Paychex plunged 8.77 percent to pace the decliners across both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 after reporting its latest financial results.
