U.S. stocks slide as 30-year bond yields top 5 percent

Wall Street has relapse Wednesday, after Tuesday's heady gains

Lola Evans
29 May 2025, 01:45 GMT+10

U.S. stocks slide as 30-year bond yields top 5 percent

NASDAQ (^IXIC): Declined 98.23 points (0.51 percent) to 19,100.94
Dow Jones (^DJI): Dropped 244.95 points (0.58 percent) to 42,098.70
Standard and Poor's 500 (^GSPC): Fell 32.99 points (0.56 percent) to close at 5,888.55

NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks were weaker Wednesday, following Tuesday's heady gains when the Dow Jones jumped 741 points. Bond yields rose, with the 30-year Treasury bill rising above 5 percent. This followed release of the Federal Reserve's minutes from their May monetary meeting, which showed hesitcancy over the impact trade tariffs may have in potentially re-igniting inflation.

A pointer as to what lies ahead is the earnings report from Nividia which was due after Wednesday's closing bell.

"The big drivers of the economy that's kind of keeping it out of a recession and keeping corporate profits positive is consumer spending and business investment," Tom Hainlin, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank told CNBC Wednesday. "Nvidia's a key indicator of: Did businesses accelerate their investments?"

Key U.S. Index Performance

Standard and Poor's 500 (^GSPC): Fell 32.99 points (0.56 percent) Wednesday to close at 5,888.55
Dow Jones (^DJI): Dropped 244.95 points (0.58 percent) to 42,098.70
NASDAQ (^IXIC): Declined 98.23 points (0.51 percent) to 19,100.94

Trading volumes showed moderate activity, with the NASDAQ seeing 7.26 billion shares change hands.

Market Drivers

Analysts attributed the U.S. pullback to:

Rising Treasury yields ahead of Friday's PCE inflation data
Profit-taking after recent record highs
Mixed earnings from the retail sector

Sector Highlights

Technology: Led declines (NASDAQ underperformance)
Energy: Outperformed on oil price stabilization
Financials: Mixed reactions to yield curve movements

Looking Ahead

Traders will focus on:

Thursday's revised Q1 GDP figures
Friday's core PCE inflation data
Ongoing debt ceiling negotiations

Dollar Strengthens Against Euro, Yen, and Pound in Wednesday's Forex Trading

The U.S. dollar showed a strong performance in Wednesday's foreign exchange session, gaining ground against the euro Japanese yen, and British pound.

Key Currency Movements

EUR/USD: The euro fell 0.34 percent against the dollar, trading at 1.1288, as investors weighed weaker-than-expected Eurozone economic data.
USD/JPY: The dollar rose 0.41 percent to 144.91 yen, amid speculation of further divergence between U.S. and Japanese monetary policies.
GBP/USD: The British pound declined 0.28 percent to 1.3463, pressured by cautious sentiment ahead of the Bank of England's next policy meeting.

Commodity Currencies Show Divergence

AUD/USD: The Australian dollar dipped 0.28 percent to 0.6423, reflecting softer commodity demand.
NZD/USD: The New Zealand dollar, however, edged up 0.19 percent to 0.5958, supported by improved risk appetite in Asian markets, and despite the TBNZ's 25 basis points interest rate cut earlier in the week.
USD/CAD: The greenback strengthened 0.16 percent against the Canadian dollar, reaching 1.3830, as oil prices remained subdued.

Safe-Haven Currencies Mixed

USD/CHF: The dollar inched up 0.03 percent to 0.8272 Swiss francs, with the franc holding steady amid muted safe-haven demand.

Market Drivers

Traders attributed the dollar's gains to renewed expectations that the Federal Reserve may delay interest rate cuts, while the euro and pound faced pressure from domestic economic uncertainties. The yen's continued weakness reflected Japan's ultra-loose monetary stance.

Outlook

Analysts expect further volatility in forex markets ahead of Friday's U.S. core PCE inflation data, a key gauge for Fed policy.

Global Markets Close Mixed on Wednesday; Asia-Pacific Indices Show Resilience

London, May 29, 2025 – Global stock markets ended Wednesday's trading session with mixed results, as major European indices declined while select Asian markets posted modest gains.

Canadian Market Bucks Trend

The S&P/TSX Composite (^GSPTSE) edged up 14.45 points (0.06 percent) to 26,283.45, supported by strength in energy and financial sectors. Volume totaled 252.5 million shares.

European Markets Slide

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) in London fell 52.04 points, or 0.59 percent, closing at 8,726.01. Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) dropped 188.30 points, or 0.78 percent, settling at 24,038.19, while France's CAC 40 (^FCHI) lost 38.69 points, or 0.49 percent, ending at 7,788.10.

The broader EURO STOXX 50 (^STOXX50E) declined 37.06 points, or 0.68 percent, to 5,378.39, and the Euronext 100 (^N100) dipped 5.68 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,585.66. Belgium's BEL 20 (^BFX) closed at 4,487.72, down 22.77 points, or 0.50 percent.

Asia-Pacific Markets Show Divergence

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (^HSI) slipped 123.68 points, or 0.53 percent, to 23,258.31, while Singapore's STI Index (^STI) bucked the trend, rising 15.83 points, or 0.41 percent, to 3,911.92.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (^AXJO) edged down 10.70 points, or 0.13 percent, to 8,396.90, and the All Ordinaries (^AORD) dipped 6.60 points, or 0.08 percent, to 8,624.90. New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 (^NZ50) saw a sharp decline, losing 220.07 points, or 1.75 percent, to 12,362.26.

Mixed Performance in Emerging Markets

India's S&P BSE SENSEX (^BSESN) fell 239.31 points, or 0.29 percent, to 81,312.32, while Indonesia's IDX Composite (^JKSE) dropped 23.15 points, or 0.32 percent, to 7,175.82. Malaysia's FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (^KLSE) slipped 2.68 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,523.48.

South Korea's KOSPI Composite (^KS11) outperformed, gaining 32.93 points, or 1.25 percent, to 2,670.15, and Taiwan's TWSE Index (^TWII) rose 21.18 points, or 0.10 percent, to 21,357.72.

Middle East and Africa Markets

Israel's TA-125 (^TA125.TA) climbed 15.34 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2,710.41, while Egypt's EGX 30 (^CASE30) added 96.50 points, or 0.30 percent, to 32,493.90. South Africa's Top 40 USD Net TRI Index (^JN0U.JO) dipped slightly, losing 5.41 points, or 0.10 percent, to 5,168.82.

Other Key Markets

China's SSE Composite (000001.SS) was nearly flat, declining just 0.76 points, or 0.02 percent, to 3,339.93. Japan's Nikkei 225 (^N225) saw minimal movement, slipping 1.71 points, or 0.00 percent, to 37,722.40.