NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday as a surge in Treasury yields and a jump in crude oil prices rattled sentiment after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 347.11 points, or 0.67 percent, to 51,481.51. The S&P 500 sank 59.72 points, or 0.77 percent, to 7,683.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 248.34 points, or 0.92 percent, to 26,820.38.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in the red, with communication services and consumer discretionary leading the laggards by going down 1.67 percent and 1.58 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, consumer staples and health led the gainers by going up 0.4 percent and 0.29 percent, respectively.
U.S. Treasury yields extended last week's sharp climb, with the benchmark 10-year yield jumping seven basis points to 5.25 percent, a fresh 2026 high and its highest level since mid-2007. The 30-year yield approached 5.6 percent, its highest since 2004, while the two-year yield gained more than five basis points to 4.916 percent.
Oil prices pared gains after an early spike as Trump rejected Tehran's offer of a seven-day plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude ended near flat at about 92.6 U.S. dollars a barrel, well off a session high near 96.54 dollars, while Brent crude rose 0.92 percent to above 105 dollars a barrel, down from a morning high above 108 dollars.
"Stocks are still seeking a path out of their latest consolidation," said Chris Larkin, managing director and head of trading and investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley. "Tech strength has been doing a lot of the heavy lifting for bulls lately, but the broader market hasn't been able to gain much traction because of rising yields and oil prices. And with the Fed focused on the inflation side of its mandate, unless this week's labor market data is a major surprise, it will likely play second fiddle to interest rates and energy."
On the corporate front, Nvidia climbed 1.68 percent after its board authorized an additional 150 billion dollars in share buybacks, bringing the AI chipmaker's total remaining repurchase authorization to 235 billion dollars through its fiscal year ending January 2028. The company also released two open-source tools, OpenShell and Nvidia Sentry, aimed at controlling rogue AI agents.
Boeing skidded nearly 7 percent after disclosing a 737 Max software glitch affecting landings. Meta Platforms shed nearly 4.8 percent after announcing it tapped MongoDB's chief executive to lead a new enterprise AI push. The news sent MongoDB shares cratering and dragged down Salesforce, ServiceNow and Snowflake.
Meanwhile, Tesla fell almost 4 percent after postponing unveiling its new version of Roadster ahead of the third-quarter delivery report. Shares of SpaceX slipped over 2 percent despite its Starship rocket reaching orbit for the first time on its 14th test flight.
Investors also weighed rising bets on more Federal Reserve tightening. Traders see about a 70-percent chance of another quarter-point rate hike at the Fed's Oct. 28 meeting, according to CME FedWatch, following the central bank's first hike since 2023 on Sept. 16, which lifted rates to between 3.75 percent and 4 percent.
All eyes this week are on the August personal consumption expenditures price index due Wednesday and the September jobs report on Friday. ■
