Ending a Mixed Week, Most Stocks Decline

Wall Street capped an up-and-down week Friday with a mixed finish for US stock indexes, as elevated bond yields and oil prices weighed on the market.

• The Dow fell 95.40 points, or 0.2%, to 51,682.64, to finish down 1.7% for the week.
• The S&P 500 rose 12.74 points, or 0.2%, to 7,650.50, closing the week down 0.1%.
• The Nasdaq rose 104.25 points, or 0.4%, to 26,522.55, up 0.7% for the week.

The majority of stocks on Wall Street fell, the AP reports, and helping to weaken them was rising pressure from the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 5% from 4.94% late Thursday after it topped the 5% level early this week for the first time since 2023. Higher yields slow the overall economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money. They also tend to undercut prices for stocks and other investments. Yields have been climbing in a long march since the COVID pandemic knocked them nearly to zero in 2020. The ascent has accelerated recently because inflation has remained high. It worsened due to higher oil prices caused by the war with Iran. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, got to nearly $110 early this week. It briefly dropped below $102 in overnight trading before erasing much of the loss and settling at $103.87, down 0.9% from the day before.

Steel maker Nucor said late Thursday that it expects to report an increase in profit from its steel mills business in the third quarter from the second because it's able to charge higher prices. But it's also having to absorb higher costs. It gave a forecast for overall profit in the third quarter that fell short of analysts' expectations, and its stock sank 6.3%. Berkshire Hathaway edged up 0.1% after famed investor Warren Buffett said he's giving up his role as chairman of the company. Elsewhere on Wall Street, General Motors fell 5.1% and Qualcomm dropped 5.8%. Among stocks that gained ground were Coinbase Global, which climbed 11.7% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks, and Robinhood Markets, which climbed 9.1%.