Wall Street Opens Higher as Treasury Yield Retreats From Peak

Wall Street’s main indexes opened higher Thursday after the 10-year US Treasury yield eased from a peak of 5.34%. The Dow and S&P 500 each rose 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4%.

The yield had reached its highest level since 2002, amid inflation worries fueled in part by rising oil prices. It was around 5.31% as New York trading began. Brent crude had moved back above $100 a barrel.

Micron Technology’s quarterly results helped lift sentiment, despite lingering questions about when companies will see returns on the large sums invested in artificial intelligence. Trade Nation analyst David Morrison said Micron had signalled strong demand for AI memory chips, supporting other semiconductor and AI-related shares.

Micron shares opened 0.2% lower, after rising around 12% over the past month. In Europe, markets fell in afternoon trading as bond yields also reached multi-decade highs. Paris stocks dropped 0.8%, with concerns over French government plans to raise taxes and cut spending adding pressure.

Investors are awaiting Friday’s US jobs data for clues on whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again in October. The prospect of back-to-back increases eased Wednesday after the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge held at 3.4% year on year in August.