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U.S. stocks fell on Thursday led by technology shares as a spike in bond yields fueled fears of equity valuations and caused investors to sell growth-focused high flyers.
The Dow Jones Industrials improved on Wednesday’s all-time high, by 193.57 points to greet noon Thursday at 33,208.94, supported mostly by bank shares.
The S&P lost 9.25 points to 3,964.87.
The NASDAQ Composite plunged 165.56 points, or 1.2%, to 13,355.64. as Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook all fell at least 1%
Bank stocks outperformed as higher interest rates tend to improve their profit margins. Banks can earn more from the widening gap between the rate they borrow at in the short term and the rate they lend out at in the long term. JPMorgan jumped 2%, while Goldman
Sachs gained 1.9%. Citizen Financial popped 4% and Zions Bancorp rallied 3.6%.
Investors digested a mixed bag of economic data Thursday. Weekly initial jobless claims totaled 770,000 for the week ended March 13, worse than an estimate of 700,000, according to economist polled by Dow Jones.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s manufacturing index showed a reading of 51.8, well exceeding Dow Jones consensus of 22.0 and hitting the highest level for the gauge since 1973.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys plummeted, hoisting yields to 1.73% from Wednesday’s 1.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost $2.78 to $61.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices obtained a dollar to $1,728.10.
