Stocks opened higher Thursday thanks to a solid round of corporate earnings. But just as the market giveth, the market taketh away, and by mid-morning, all three main benchmarks were in the red as Treasury yields once again hit their highest levels in decades.
The 10-year Treasury yield hit an intraday high of 5.344% today — its loftiest level since 2002 — before closing down 5.9 basis points at 5.234%. The yield on the 30-year Treasury also notched its highest intraday peak in 24 years, 5.693%, but finished 3.6 basis points lower at 5.603%.
The main equity benchmarks fluctuated alongside Treasury yields. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, for instance, opened 0.4% higher but was down 0.7% by mid-morning. At the close, the 30-stock index was up 0.04% at 50,926.
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The broader S&P 500 (+0.2% at 7,666) and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (+0.04% at 26,871) experienced similar price action, though both closed in positive territory.
There are several reasons bond yields are spiking right now, explains Kiplinger contributor Kyle Woodley in his feature on what’s happening in the bond market right now. A supply and demand imbalance, for one, as well as expectations for more Federal Reserve rate hikes and “worries about high energy prices keeping inflation elevated.”
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This morning’s data from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed that while economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded for the ninth straight month, the prices index jumped 6.8 percentage points from August to September.
While the ISM report showed that manufacturing continued to expand, “inflation remained the dominant story here,” says Priscilla Thiagamoorthy, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, and “the sharp rebound in input price pressures and persistent supply constraints will likely keep the Fed on edge.”
According to CME Group FedWatch, odds for an October rate hike have dropped to 26% from 69% one week ago, but futures traders are currently pricing in a 62% probability of a quarter-percentage-point increase to the federal funds rate in December.
Micron delivers another impressive earnings beat
Corporate earnings were also in focus Thursday, with Micron Technology (MU, +3.0%) arguably the most anticipated company reporting.
The semiconductor stock has had a sizzling run on the price charts, quadrupling for the year to date, on snowballing demand for its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are critical for artificial intelligence (AI).
In its fiscal fourth quarter, Micron said earnings per share jumped to $33.42 from $3.03 the year prior, while revenue grew nearly fivefold to $54.2 billion. It also expects strong top- and bottom-line growth in fiscal 2027.
Micron’s earnings report reinforces “our constructive view on memory’s role in AI and increasing supply-side discipline supporting a durable cycle,” says BofA Securities analyst Vivek Arya. “As HBM pricing agreements renew and strategic customer agreements (SCAs) expand, management now sees visibility into quarter-over-quarter sales/gross margin expansion every quarter in FY27 from FQ1.”
Arya calls MU a “top AI pick” and reiterated a Buy rating and $1,550 price target, representing implied upside of 41% to current levels.
Accenture soars 16% for its best day ever
Elsewhere on the earnings calendar, Accenture (ACN) jumped 15.8% — its best day ever — after the global consulting company reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results.
ACN also said new bookings — a measure of future revenue — rose 4% year over year, and it reached a record high of 141 quarterly clients with bookings of $100 million or more. Additionally, its board of directors approved a 5% hike to its quarterly dividend.
“Given the downbeat stock performance, there was a lot to be enthusiastic about in the FQ4 results and next year’s guidance,” says Susquehanna analyst James Friedman.
The analyst raised his price target on the tech stock to $210 from $153, noting the company has “the right assets and strategy.” However, he maintained a Neutral (Hold) rating, saying he needs to see “a clearer path with the AI ecosystem.”