Dow Jones| Nasdaq | S&P 500 | US Stock Market Today |Highlights: US stocks end lower as higher yields, rising oil prices mark shaky start to September

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Business News›Markets›US Stocks›News›Dow Jones| Nasdaq | S&P 500 | US Stock Market Today |Highlights: US stocks end lower as higher yields, rising oil prices mark shaky start to September LIVE BLOG Wall Street stocks fell as rising yields and oil prices weighed on investor sentiment. Synopsis Dow Jones| Nasdaq | S&P 500 | US Stock Market Today |Highlights: US stocks ended lower on Tuesday as rising Treasury yields and a jump in oil prices pressured equities at the start of September, historically the weakest month for markets. Fresh US strikes on Iranian targets and growing bets on a Fed rate hike added to investor caution. Dow Jones| Nasdaq | S&P 500 | US Stock Market Today |Highlights: Wall Street kicked off September on a weak note, with all three major US stock indexes ending lower as rising bond yields and higher oil prices fueled inflation and interest-rate concerns. Renewed US strikes on Iranian targets added to geopolitical risks, while markets raised bets on a September Fed rate hike. The S&P 500 fell 0.71%, the Nasdaq dropped 1.01% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.78%. Show more 1 New Update S&P 500 lost 54.19 points, or 0.71%, to end at 7,631.95 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 271.11 points, or 1.01%, to 26,099.77. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 413.41 points, or 0.78%, to 52,772.49. S&P Global is weighing a potential spinout of Capital IQ Pro, its flagship financial data and research platform, in a move that could create a standalone company worth several billion dollars, Bloomberg reported. Read more The US Securities and Exchange Commission has submitted a proposed rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget aimed at expanding retail investor access to private markets and modernizing performance fee rules. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has championed the initiative as a matter of market accessibility, seeking to amend the Investment Advisers Act and Investment Company Act of 1940 so registered funds can offer private market exposure to non-accredited investors. While supporters argue the changes will open high-growth investment opportunities previously reserved for institutional and wealthy clients, investor advocacy groups warn that reduced disclosures and valuation challenges in private markets pose greater financial risks for mom-and-pop investors. Wells Fargo analysts, led by chief equity strategist Ohsung Kwon, have joined JPMorgan Chase and Citadel Securities in taking a tactically cautious stance on US equities heading into September, historically the market's weakest month. Driven by lingering capital expenditure concerns surrounding the artificial intelligence trade, potential data center moratoriums ahead of the US midterm elections, and hawkish signals from Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, strategists expect a near-term tactical reset. Kwon suggests prioritizing quality software stocks over semiconductors ahead of major catalysts, such as Anthropic's impending IPO, while maintaining a constructive long-term outlook that requires AI gross output to reach $1.4 trillion by 2028 to justify ongoing capital outlays. Chevron is expected to formally announce an expansion of its Venezuelan operations during an upcoming visit by company executives and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, following a broader Trump administration initiative to leverage the nation's energy reserves. The expansion aligns with a separate, controversial agreement between the US government and North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) to develop 17 Venezuelan oil fields, granting the Pentagon a 35% equity stake. While administration officials frame the deals as key steps toward regional stability and reduced reliance on Middle Eastern crude, industry analysts warn that the arrangement faces severe legal, political, and operational challenges due to constitutional authorization requirements and the long timeframe needed to rebuild Venezuela's oil infrastructure. Anthropic announced it will roll out Enterprise Frontier Safeguards starting in fall 2026, offering enterprise clients zero data retention and automated misuse detection. Supported across Claude Code, Claude Enterprise, Claude Platform, Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, the security enhancements will be provided at no extra charge. Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank may need to raise interest rates if inflation does not show enough signs of cooling, adding to the pressure on policymakers ahead of their September meeting. Read more US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed strong backing for the Bank of Japan to take decisive monetary steps to address the undervaluation of the yen and mitigate domestic inflationary pressures during a meeting with BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda. The discussions, held at the G20 gathering in Asheville, North Carolina, reinforced market expectations of an imminent rate increase at the BOJ's September 18 policy meeting. Bessent emphasized the importance of clear monetary policy communication to prevent excess exchange rate volatility, adding further pressure on Japanese leadership as markets price in a near-certain rate hike. Morgan Stanley upgraded Robinhood Markets Inc. to overweight from underweight, citing the company's expanding prediction markets business as a key catalyst for sustained revenue growth. Analyst Michael Cyprys highlighted that Robinhood's prediction markets, driven by its Rothera derivatives exchange, generated $156 million in second-quarter revenue across more than 2 million users, outpacing cryptocurrency trading to become the firm's fastest-growing segment. Supported by strong monetization per customer, rising platform assets exceeding $4 billion in its banking unit, and upcoming product catalysts, Robinhood shares gained up to 2.1% on Tuesday following the upgrade. Former Apple CFO Luca Maestri has relinquished his responsibilities overseeing corporate services, including IT, security, and real estate, marking another executive transition as John Ternus takes over as chief executive officer. Maestri's duties have been assumed by current CFO Kevan Parekh, while Maestri transitions to a reduced role hosting Apple University classes. The change is part of a broader executive restructuring under Ternus, which also sees Eddy Cue take over the App Store following Phil Schiller's departure and key leaders like Parekh and Sabih Khan gain expanded influence as Ternus moves away from Tim Cook's tradition of retaining former top executives in advisory positions. Google announced in a company blog post that it is launching Google Pics, rolling the new feature out over the coming weeks to all Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers, as well as most Workspace business customers. Offered both as a standalone tool and embedded directly within Workspace applications such as Docs, Slides, and Drive, Google Pics enables eligible enterprise and premium individual users to access AI-powered image generation and editing capabilities directly within their productivity workflows. Spot gold dropped over 2% on Tuesday to touch a two-week low of $4,362.89 per ounce, driven down by elevated U.S. Treasury yields, a stronger dollar, and technical selling after breaking below its 200-day moving average. Surging global bond yields, fueled by rising energy costs and hawkish Federal Reserve rate-hike expectations, increased the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. Analysts note near-term pressure remains tilted downward across precious metals as traders await key U.S. employment data later this week for further monetary policy clues. - Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma European equities declined on Tuesday, pushing the pan-European STOXX 600 down 0.6% to a one-month low as surging government bond yields and sticky euro zone inflation reinforced bets on an upcoming European Central Bank interest rate hike. August inflation topping 3%, alongside energy price spikes driven by US-Iran tensions, drove German and French long-term bond yields to multi-year highs. Despite economic resilience shown in robust manufacturing data and gains in energy stocks and select equities like Novartis, global hawkish central bank policies and escalating bond yields continue to weigh on equity markets. A little-known optical parts maker is buying GoPro for $285 million in cash, a deal that would repay the struggling action-camera maker's debt and give it more room to navigate surging memory chip prices and tough Chinese competition. Read more Tesla's supervised self-driving technology recorded 4.1 times fewer collisions than manually driven Tesla cars in the five European countries where it is permitted, the automaker said on Tuesday, as it steps up lobbying efforts ahead of an EU vote on wider deployment. The Netherlands in April became the first European country to grant provisional approval for Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, prompting Belgium, Denmark, Estonia and Lithuania to follow suit ahead of a European Union vote on broader approval. Tesla said its findings were based on more than 100 million km (62 million miles) of driving data collected between April and August in those five countries, where FSD-equipped cars were involved in three collisions on highways and nine on non-highway roads, compared with 137 and 490 collisions respectively involving manually driven vehicles. U.S. Treasury yields retreated from earlier highs on Tuesday in the wake of economic data, after another rise in oil prices due to the resumption of strikes in the Iran war had reignited inflation concerns and helped trigger a global bond selloff. Read more A selloff in U.S. government bonds is pushing up borrowing costs, which could squeeze households, companies, financial markets and the federal budget alike. Read more U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday Washington was likely to announce bank sanctions against Iran this week, stepping up an attempt to "economically asphyxiate" Iran's leadership after six months of conflict. Oil prices rose further after the first exchange of direct attacks since July and reports of two tankers being hit leaving the Strait of Hormuz, the global oil supply waterway that Iran has effectively closed to shipping. Tehran remained defiant, warning that it would prevent oil being exported from the Gulf, despite a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to hit Iran "hard" in response to the renewed Iranian strikes, and Bessent's warning that Washington was about to impose new sanctions. The European Union said Tuesday it had begun to use new powers to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) by sending information requests to dozens of companies after incidents this summer highlighted the risks the technology poses. The European Commission gained new regulatory powers last month under the AI Act, the world's most far-reaching rules to curb potentially dangerous uses of the technology. It entered into force in 2024, with obligations kicking in over several years. The Commission said Tuesday it had sent requests for information to more than 30 companies operating in the AI sector. The requests are a preliminary step before the possible launch of a formal investigation into whether companies are respecting European laws. Tech hardware manufacturers Dell Technologies Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. are set to report earnings under intense investor scrutiny following record stock surges in 2026 driven by demand for AI infrastructure servers. With Dell up over 250% and HP Enterprise up roughly 112% year-to-date, both stocks face elevated valuation multiples, well above their historical 10-year averages, leaving little room for error. Following blockbuster results from chipmaker Nvidia and server maker Super Micro Computer, analysts warn that meeting high Q2 growth expectations, including an anticipated 150% surge in Dell's net income and a tripling of HP Enterprise's, will be critical to justifying their premium valuations and preventing a potential stock pullback. - Krishna Guha at Evercore US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed the long-term importance of the Iranian-controlled Strait of Hormuz, stating at a financial conference in Asheville, North Carolina, that the crucial Persian Gulf energy transit route will become "worthless" within two years as alternative pipelines are constructed to bypass it. John Ternus has succeeded Tim Cook as CEO of Apple Inc., stepping into the leadership role following Cook's nearly 15-year tenure that saw the company's market valuation expand from under $350 billion to $4.6 trillion with stock returns exceeding 2,200%. Cook transformed Apple by establishing high-margin recurring revenues via Apple Services and returning over $840 billion to shareholders through stock buybacks, despite facing criticism over lukewarm AI development and mixed product rollouts like the Vision Pro. Ternus, who brings an engineering and product background, takes over amid heightened valuation multiples and faces an immediate test next week at a major product event where Apple is expected to reveal a foldable iPhone alongside AI-focused strategic shifts. Global bond yields surged to their highest levels in nearly two decades as rising oil prices, escalating Middle East geopolitical conflicts, and heavy sovereign and corporate debt issuance fueled persistent inflation concerns. The selloff, intensified by hawkish signaling from Federal Reserve leadership and central banks worldwide, led investors to price in imminent rate hikes across major economies while demanding higher term premiums. Consequently, yields on benchmark government debt including US, Japanese, and UK bonds soared to multi-year or multi-decade highs, increasing borrowing costs globally and threatening to weigh on both economic growth and equity markets. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that U.S. bond yields are showing that inflation expectations are "flat to down" and reflect accelerating U.S. growth. Read more Emergency household-repairs provider HomeServe, backed by owner Brookfield Asset Management, is in early discussions to issue an $1.8 billion whole-business securitization transaction led by Jefferies Financial Group. The asset-backed deal aims to refinance HomeServe's existing debt and fund a $600 million dividend payout to Brookfield. Expected to close in September, the proposed transaction spans both public and private structured finance markets, featuring tentative 5-, 7-, and 10-year tranches priced at dynamic spreads over benchmark Treasury rates. Oil prices rose more than 2% on Tuesday as a resumption in fighting between the United States and Iran in the Middle East renewed fears of supply disruptions from the oil-producing region. Read more U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that Washington is likely to announce sanctions against an Iranian bank this week as part of its broader economic campaign against Iran. He also said another bank sanction could follow the week after, adding that U.S. allies have expressed strong support for the measures. Rising oil prices are raising inflation fears and pushing bond yields higher, weighing down stocks on Wall Street. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 299 points, or 0.6%, as of 9:33 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.4%. Read more Chip stocks declined before the bell, with Nvidia, Intel and AMD falling between 1.2% and 1.9%, weighing on the technology sector. Robinhood gained 2.5% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock, while Hut 8 rose 1.82% following reports of a planned data centre tied to an Anthropic-Lambda cloud deal. Energy shares advanced as Brent crude gained 1.67%, lifting Exxon Mobil and Devon Energy by 1% and 1.3%, respectively. The moves highlighted how higher oil prices were supporting energy stocks even as they added to wider inflation concerns. The combination of sector-specific moves and macroeconomic pressures set a cautious tone for the opening session. Attention now turns to U.S. labour-market data, with the Labor Department’s JOLTS report due later on Tuesday and the more closely watched nonfarm payrolls report scheduled for Friday. Investors will assess the figures for signs of labour-market resilience and clues about the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook. The central bank’s focus remains on inflation, making incoming economic data critical for rate expectations. A payrolls report broadly in line with forecasts could reinforce the view that the timing of any future policy shift will depend more on the path of price pressures than on the pace of job growth. September also began with a historically weak seasonal backdrop for U.S. equities. Since 1926, the S&P 500 has recorded an average loss of 0.7% in September, making it the weakest month for stocks and the only month with a negative average return, according to Fisher Investments data cited from Finaeon. Strategists, however, said investors should not rely on seasonal patterns alone when making investment decisions. The economic backdrop remains important, with investors advised to focus on underlying conditions rather than attempt to time short-term seasonal volatility. Renewed clashes in the Middle East added another layer of uncertainty for markets, raising concerns that oil prices could remain elevated and add to inflationary pressure. That has strengthened expectations around higher interest rates, while the selloff in U.S. Treasuries pushed yields to their highest levels in months. Markets are therefore balancing geopolitical risks with the possibility that monetary policy may stay restrictive for longer. Analysts said yields may remain elevated even without a full-blown market crisis, limiting the room for risk assets to rally. That backdrop kept investors cautious. U.S. stock futures opened September on a weaker note, with Dow futures down 0.4%, S&P 500 futures 0.47% and Nasdaq 100 futures 0.9%. Rising Treasury yields and higher oil prices weighed on risk appetite, extending the recent weakness in equities. Investors remained cautious as higher borrowing costs can reduce the appeal of stocks, particularly when bond yields are rising across the curve. The move also reflected a broader shift in expectations around interest rates, with traders watching whether inflation pressures could keep monetary policy restrictive for longer. This kept futures under pressure.