US close: Stocks mixed after dire previous session

By Sharecast News

Sharecast News | 30 Sep, 2021

Updated : 00:41

Wall Street trading finished in a mixed state on Wednesday, following the S&P 500's worst session in four months.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.26% at 34,390.72 and the S&P 500 added 0.16% to 4,359.46, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.24% to 14,512.44.

The Dow closed 90.73 points higher on Wednesday, clawing back some of the losses recorded on Tuesday as the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note peaked at around 1.56%.

On Wednesday, the 10-year note slipped slightly to 1.521%, while the 30-year Treasury note fell to around 2.064%.

The US debt ceiling debate in the capital also weighed on stocks, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen telling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Congress had until 18 October to hike or suspend the debt ceiling, warning that failure to do so would have dire consequences for the US economy.

On the macro front, mortgage application volume fell 1.1% in the week ended 24 September following a rebound in the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The principal reason for the decline was the purchase index, which dipped 1.2% week-on-week, while refinancing activity decreased 0.9% from the prior week.

Elsewhere, pending home sales rose in August, up 8.1% month-on-month, according to the National Association of Realtors, outpacing the expected 1.3% increase in sales and reversing two straight months of declines.

In equities, tech stocks - which took a beating amid the rising yields - were a mixed bag, with Netflix up 2.61% and Apple ahead 0.65%.

Facebook, Amazon and Google owner Alphabet reversed earlier gains to close in negative territory, however.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Wednesday.

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $226.38 3.62%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $75.48 2.91%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $139.34 1.32%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $48.74 1.29%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $142.41 1.25%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $215.32 1.24%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $338.07 1.23%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $155.23 1.13%
Visa Inc. (V) $227.84 1.00%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $164.31 0.88%