US close: Stocks finish weaker as bond yields surge

Stocks on Wall Street finished in negative territory on Thursday, as the 10-year Treasury yield soared, fuelling another tech sell-off.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.46% at 32,862.30, the S&P 500 lost 1.48% to 3,915.46, and the Nasdaq Composite was 3.02% weaker at 13,116.17.

The Dow closed 153.07 points lower, reversing the gains recorded in the previous session after the Federal Reserve upped its economic forecasts following its two-day meeting.

Stocks were under pressure after the yield on the 10-year Treasury note shot above 1.7% despite reassurance from the Fed that it had no intentions of hiking interest rates anytime soon or tapering its bond-buying program.

The 30-year note also traded above 2.5% for the first time since August 2019.

Fed chair Jerome Powell said the central bank wanted to see inflation sit consistently above its 2% target and also witness material improvement in the US labour market before even considering making changes to rates or monthly bond purchases.

The Federal Reserve also upped its economic outlook in order to better reflect expectations for a strong recovery, with Powell now anticipating gross domestic product growth of 6.5% in 2021 rather than initial projections for a reading of 4.2%.

He also said there would need to be a “material and sustained” advance in prices and a steep drop in unemployment before discussing making changes to its current easy policy stance.

Also in focus on Thursday, initial US jobless claims jumped unexpectedly in the week ended 13 March, while secondary claims were roughly flat.

According to the Department of Labor, the number of Americans filing for unemployment claims for the first time increased by 45,000 to reach 770,000 - ahead of expectations for a reading of 695,000.

Elsewhere on the macro front, a closely-followed survey of manufacturing sector conditions in the US mid-Atlantic region surprised sharply to the upside, with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's factory index jumping from a reading of 23.1 for February to 51.8 in March.

That was far higher than the 24.0 print that economists had pencilled-in.

Lastly, the Conference Board's leading index increased 0.2% in February to 110.5, following a 0.5% increase in January and a 0.4% jump in December, suggesting economic growth should continue well into 2021.

In the corporate space, Apple was down 3.39%, Alphabet lost 2.62%, Microsoft slid 2.67%, Tesla sank 6.93%, and Facebook closed 1.9% lower, as elevated bond yields sparked yet another sector-wide sell-off for technology plays.

Dow Jones - Risers

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $362.05 2.80%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $157.65 1.65%
3M Co. (MMM) $191.00 1.43%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $283.16 1.12%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $56.31 1.00%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $215.02 0.93%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $348.00 0.88%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $130.03 0.80%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $128.70 0.22%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $244.42 0.06%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $104.12 -3.62%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $120.53 -3.39%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $63.72 -3.12%
Boeing Co. (BA) $256.06 -2.86%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $230.72 -2.67%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $52.70 -2.59%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $64.72 -1.95%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $130.01 -1.72%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $209.48 -1.71%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $192.28 -1.52%

S&P 500 - Risers

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) $68.15 18.71%
PPL Corp. (PPL) $29.68 5.96%
Anthem Inc (ANTM) $353.32 3.33%
US Bancorp (USB) $56.27 3.27%
News Corp Class A (NWSA) $27.15 3.04%
Assurant Inc. (AIZ) $142.61 2.86%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $362.05 2.80%
Centene Corp. (CNC) $63.57 2.71%
MetLife Inc. (MET) $61.76 2.68%
Republic Services Inc. (RSG) $96.72 2.64%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $10.68 -8.40%
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $26.62 -8.33%
Apache Corp. (APA) $19.24 -8.32%
Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) $75.17 -7.66%
Coty Inc. Class A (COTY) $8.52 -6.99%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $73.70 -6.87%
HollyFrontier Corp (HFC) $36.00 -6.81%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $7.88 -6.41%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $94.64 -6.25%
ConocoPhillips (COP) $53.38 -6.07%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $162.09 1.37%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $95.48 0.59%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $92.51 0.40%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $319.23 0.07%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $244.42 0.06%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $15.85 0.00%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $108.24 0.00%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $179.20 0.00%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $57.91 -0.02%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $67.68 -0.13%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $653.16 -6.93%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,436.17 -6.60%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $288.74 -5.45%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $145.49 -5.42%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $122.25 -5.37%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $73.87 -5.27%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $89.82 -5.21%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $238.41 -5.19%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $514.43 -4.75%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $114.28 -4.69%