Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Russell 2000 Fall as 30-Year Yield Hits 5.7%
U.S. stocks slipped by midday Wednesday as a sharp selloff in industrials weighed on the Dow Jones and small caps, while healthcare provided The S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 7,788, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9%, or 465 points, to 51,056. The Dow was weighed down by Caterpillar Inc. , which sank 6.3% to about $809.The Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.4% to 31,098. The Russell 2000 underperformed, shedding 1.4% to 2,792.Treasury yields continued to rise. The 10-year bond yield rose about 5 basis points to 5.32%, its highest since 2002, while the 30-year yield gained about 5 basis points to 5.70%, a fresh 24-year high.The next big test comes with September CPI on Oct. 14, after August inflation ran at 3.4% year over year. A hot print could quickly revive hike expectations, with Treasury yields already elevated.Currently, the probability of a hike at the Oct. 28 meeting stands at 19.4%, down from 51% a week earlier, according to CME FedWatch figure. Markets still price roughly 70% odds of a quarter-point increase on Dec. 9.Energy remained in focus, with Brent crude holding above $100 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.4% to about $89.80 per barrel, while Brent gained 0.6% to roughly $101.17.Gold retreated toward $4,135 an ounce. The SPDR Gold Shares ) slid 1.5%. Gold remains roughly 5% lower over the past month, so the move comes well below recent levels rather than near a record.Silver fell with gold. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) lost 2.5%, with spot silver near $60 an ounce and down about 8% over the past month.Bitcoin also traded lower, down 2.9% over 24 hours to about $83,400 after a 24-hour high near $85,900. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF dropped 2.7%.Wednesday’s Performance in Major US IndicesIndexLast% ChangeMTDYTDS&P 5007,787.59-0.40%+1.78%+13.76%Dow Jones51,056.31-0.90%+0.30%+6.23%Nasdaq 10031,098.25-0.40%+2.27%+23.16%Russell 20002,791.72-1.36%-0.18%+12.48%According to the Benzinga Pro platform:The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF https://www.benzinga.com/quote/VOO(NYSE:VOO) fell 0.4%.The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust https://www.benzinga.com/quote/DIA(NYSE:DIA) slid 0.9%.The Invesco QQQ Trust declined 0.4%.The iShares Russell 2000 ETF https://www.benzinga.com/quote/IWM(NYSE:IWM) dropped 1.4%.Industrials Crack, Healthcare Stands AloneHealth care was the standout as investors flocked to defensive sectors. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund https://www.benzinga.com/quote/XLV(NYSE:XLV) climbed 1.7%.The iShares Biotechnology ETF added 1.1%. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund https://www.benzinga.com/quote/XLP(NYSE:XLP) rose 0.3%.The Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund https://www.benzinga.com/quote/XLI(NYSE:XLI) was the weakest group, down 2.3%, followed by the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund https://www.benzinga.com/quote/XLB(NYSE:XLB) at 1.5% lower.The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund https://www.benzinga.com/quote/XLRE(NYSE:XLRE) and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund https://www.benzinga.com/quote/XLF(NYSE:XLF) each fell about 1.0%, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund https://www.benzinga.com/quote/XLE(NYSE:XLE) lost 0.9%, and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund https://www.benzinga.com/quote/XLC(NYSE:XLC) shed 0.8%.The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund https://www.benzinga.com/quote/XLK(NYSE:XLK) dipped 0.5% and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund https://www.benzinga.com/quote/XLY(NYSE:XLY) eased 0.5%Among industry funds, the VanEck Gold Miners ETF https://www.benzinga.com/quote/GDX(NYSE:GDX) fell 2.8% alongside bullion, the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF https://www.benzinga.com/quote/KRE(NYSE:KRE) dropped 2.1% and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF slipped 1.4%.Among Russell 1000 gainers, Summit Therapeutics Inc. led with a 5.0% advance, extending a week of deal news in which AstraZeneca completed a $2 billion equity investment in the company and the two sides agreed to study ivonescimab in combination with Datroway.Eli Lilly and Co. gained 3.9% as Morgan Stanley maintained its Overweight rating, with investors also digesting Lilly’s $870 million deal with Gate.The gain came even as a pharma lobby group sued the Trump administration over most-favored-nation drug pricing. ResMed Inc. added 3.5%.Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. climbed 3.4% to a record high after launching ProLiant Gen13 servers built on 6th-generation AMD EPYC processors for enterprise AI.On the downside, QXO Inc. sank 10.0% and X-Energy Inc. fell 8.3%.IES Holdings Inc. also dropped 10.0%, even after closing its $691 million acquisition of DBM Global earlier this week and expanding its credit facility to $700 million; no specific trigger for today’s decline was confirmed.Cognex Corp. lost 8.2% after Truist trimmed its price target to $74 from $78 on Monday. Sterling Infrastructure Inc. slid 8.0%, giving back part of a recent rebound of about 12% tied to data center construction demand.Wednesday’s Russell 1000 Top GainersName% changeSummit Therapeutics Inc.+5.00%Spotify Technology S.A. +4.82%Eli Lilly and Company+3.93%ResMed Inc.+3.52%Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company+3.42%Wednesday’s Russell 1000 Top LosersName% changeQXO, Inc.-10.05%IES Holdings, Inc.-10.04%X-Energy, Inc.-8.25%Cognex Corporation-8.20%Sterling Infrastructure, Inc.-7.98%Image: Shutterstock