A drop in big tech and higher energy prices weighed on Wall Street sentiment ahead of inflation data that will help shape the Fed's next moves.
The S&P 500 finished near session lows after briefly erasing its losses. The Nasdaq 100 fell 1%. Nvidia, which has more than tripled this year in the midst of the artificial intelligence frenzy, fell nearly 5%. Tesla, Apple, and Amazon were all offline. Concerns about further price pressures were heightened by a 28% increase in European natural gas and an increase in oil to a nine-month high.
In the meantime, bond investors wanted the new Treasury 10-year notes so badly that they were willing to accept a yield of less than 4%.
The $38 billion auction was awarded at 3.999%, making it the third 10-year new issue to pay a fixed rate of less than 4% in a row. Since the auction details were announced on August 2, its larger-than-expected size has pushed the yield on the new 10-year note in pre-sale trading up to 4.19% on Friday. Investors eventually decided they could live on less.