US oil prices closed at their highest level in more than a year, adding to worries about persistent inflation that could lead the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer.
“We’ve got a lot of a lot of trends going on in the background that are creating a difficult environment for investors — obviously rising interest rates to rising oil prices, and there is a stronger dollar,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital Management.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 percent to 33,550.27.
The broad-based S&P 500 was flat at 4,274.51, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.3 percent to 13,092.85.
Stocks had initially advanced on a pullback in yields, but the 10-year US Treasury note reversed course, pushing closer to five percent.
New orders for durable goods rose 0.2 percent in August from a month earlier to $284.7 billion, much above expectations.
“But good news is actually bad news for equities,” said Oanda’s Edward Moya. “Signs of economic resilience will move the needle in possibly making the Fed deliver more rate hikes.”
Among individual companies, Costco Wholesale gained 1.9 percent after reporting a jump of more than nine percent to $77.4 billion in quarterly sales. (AFP)