S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq Futures Ease As Treasury Yields Continue To Spike — ORCL, META, AKAM, GOOGL, MGM In Focus

• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 ended Thursday flat, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%.
• The 30-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2004.
• Brent crude settled near $107.

The Dow Jones index ended lower on Thursday as Treasury yields continued their upward march amid hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 ended Thursday flat, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%. The Russell 2000, which tracks stocks with small market capitalizations, fell 0.1%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 59 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures were down 0.1%, and Nasdaq-100 futures were also off 0.1%. 

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) was down 0.2%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) fell 0.4%, and the Nasdaq-100 tracking Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) dropped 0.2%. 

Meanwhile, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) and the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell about 0.1%, tracking weakness in Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO). The broader Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) fell about 0.3%.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for QQQ and SPY was ‘bullish’ with ‘high’ message volumes, and ‘neutral’ for the DIA. 

US Market Drivers

Yields recently gained momentum after hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr, higher energy costs tied to Middle East tensions, and strong purchasing managers' survey data. Traders see a 68% probability of an October rate increase, per the CME FedWatch tool.

Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson aligned with fellow officials, warning that further policy tightening could be required to bring inflation back to target. Meanwhile, New York Fed Chief John Williams emphasized that central bankers still face significant ground to cover in reining in elevated price growth.

Meanwhile, the average 30-year fixed home mortgage rate climbed to its highest level since 2004 at 7.45%.

“Even prior to recent market shifts, the moderation in credit card APRs and vehicle financing charges observed from mid-2024 through early 2026 had leveled off, while home loan rates turned upward once again,” noted Morgan Stanley economist Heather Berger in a client commentary.

Meanwhile, the average rate on 30-year fixed home loans surged past 7% for the first time since the early days of President Donald Trump's administration, driven by recent Federal Reserve interest rate increases.

“Such headwinds will likely curb household spending, particularly across consumer goods, reinforcing our forecast for a 40 basis-point slowdown in real consumption expansion over the coming year,” Berger added.

Key Trending Stocks

Oracle (ORCL): The company reportedly invoked a "force majeure" clause tied to Project Jupiter, its $165 billion AI data center campus in New Mexico. 

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) is approaching a $2 trillion market valuation following its strongest monthly stock performance since July 2013, largely driven by enthusiastic market response to its newly released Muse personal AI assistant. 

Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) has secured a major multi-year cloud computing agreement with artificial intelligence developer Anthropic, valued at $11.6 billion over seven years. 

Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOGL) Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic are reportedly pushing ahead with plans to create a new industry-led AI safety standards body without government oversight, as concerns over the risks posed by advanced models intensify. 

People Incorporated (PPLI) stock jumped 13% in after-hours trading on Thursday after a report stated that MGM Resorts (MGM) is considering a bid for the media company, reversing the direction of a months-long takeover dance. 

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