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Stock prices fell on Wednesday ahead of new economic data on growth and inflation.
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An auction of $44 billion worth of seven-year government bonds was met with lukewarm demand.
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Bond yields spiked for a second day, with the 10-year Treasury bond rising seven basis points to 4.61%.
U.S. stocks fell for the second day of the short trading week on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 300 points, while Treasury yields continued to rise.
An auction of seven-year Treasury notes met weak demand, marking the third sale of U.S. Treasury bonds this week, fueling fears of oversupply amid forecasts of longer yields. The Treasury Department sold $44 billion worth of banknotes at 4.650%, with reports saying domestic demand was weaker than average. On Tuesday, a sale of two- and five-year bonds was priced due to weaker investor demand.
The 10-year government bond rose by seven basis points to 4.61%.
The bond market sell-off comes ahead of two key data points for investors trying to assess the path of interest rates for the rest of this year. GDP for the first quarter will be revised for the first time on Thursday, with growth for the first three months of the year expected to be lower than initially reported.
More importantly, the Bureau of Economic Analysis will release the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure on Friday. According to economists’ estimates, price increases, as measured by the personal consumption expenditure index, are expected to be at the same level as March’s figures, up 2.7%. However, a surprise on the upside or downside could have a major impact on the stock and the broader market.
The Nasdaq Composite fell further from record highs reached on Tuesday, with the tech-heavy index spared from deeper losses by Nvidia, which rose almost 1% on the session.
Here’s where the US indexes stood at 4pm on Wednesday:
Here’s what else happened today:
In commodities, bonds and crypto:
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West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1% to $79.85 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.9% to $83.41 per barrel.
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Gold fell 0.8% to $2,336.20 an ounce.
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The yield on ten-year government bonds rose by seven basis points to 4.614%.
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Bitcoin fell 1.6% to $67,286.78.
Read the original article on Business Insider
