US stocks declined on Wednesday as rising bond yields weighed on the outlook for corporate profit margins and consumer spending. The S&P 500 and the Dow each slipped about 0.5%, while renewed weakness in technology shares dragged the Nasdaq 100 down nearly 1%.
Oil and fuel prices climbed further as hostilities between the US and Iran intensified, reducing the chances of a near-term resumption of Middle Eastern oil exports and stoking inflation concerns ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting. The risk that elevated borrowing costs will pressure equity markets appeared to increase after their resilience since the onset of the conflict, reflecting in part the burden of higher interest rates on rapidly expanding debt at AI hyperscalers funding data center buildouts.
Alphabet fell 3% after unveiling a $15.1 billion investment in new facilities in Finland, while Amazon lost 2% following another sterling-denominated financing round. By contrast, Meta gained 4.5% after announcing a new AI agent.
