Wall Street pointed higher early today, with falling bond yields giving stocks some breathing room in what’s been a horrid month for U.S. markets, the Associated Press reports.
Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.4% before the opening bell, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%.
September has brought a loss of 5.2% so far for the S&P 500, putting it on track to be the worst month of the year by far. The realization that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates high for longer than hoped has sent yields in the bond market to their highest levels in more than a decade, drawing investors away from stocks and other investments.
Those yields retreated somewhat overnight into this morning, with the return on the 10-year Treasury ticking back to 4.50% from 4.55% late Tuesday. It is near its highest level since 2007 and up sharply from about 3.50% in May and from 0.50% about three years ago.
Yields on the 2-year Treasury fell even further, to 5.06% this morning from 5.14% late Tuesday.
Besides high interest rates, a long list of other worries is also tugging at Wall Street. The most immediate is the threat of another U.S. government shutdown as Capitol Hill threatens a stalemate that could shut off federal services across the country as soon as this weekend. A shutdown would furlough millions of federal employees, leave the military without pay, disrupt air travel, and cut off vital safety net services.
Wall Street also is contending with higher oil prices, shaky economies around the world, a strike by U.S. auto workers that could put more upward pressure on inflation, and a resumption of U.S. student-loan repayments that could dent spending by households.
Early today, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose almost 2%, pushing to within a dime of $92. Brent crude, the international standard, advanced $1.06 to $93.49 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 149.15 Japanese yen from 149.03 yen.
