Stocks open lower on Wall Street, Treasury yields climb

Stocks are broadly lower in early trading on Thursday, as investors were discouraged by economic data that showed continuing pain for recession-impacted Americans as well as the steady rise of bond yields.

The S&P 500 index lost 0.7% as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 1%. The Russell 2000 index of small companies was down 0.7%.

Bond yields continue to climb, as murmurs of inflation have started among investors and as the economy continues to climb out of the hole that was created by the pandemic. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 1.31%, nearly double where it was last fall. It’s now trading at levels seen before the March 2020 pandemic shutdowns.

The climb in bond yields has multiple impacts on the market. When bonds pay higher yields, they are more attractive to a broader group of investors, who tend to move money out of low-performing stocks and into the steady income of bonds. It’s a push-pull phenomenon that’s existed in the market for decades. With bonds no longer paying out rock-bottom yields, the inverse relationship betweens stocks and bonds could be reasserting itself.

Secondly, the bond market tends to be a good predictor for the economy. The steady rise in yields means investors see the economy getting better but also worries of inflation. President Biden’s plan to spend $1.9 trillion on stimulus could be somewhat inflationary, although in a recession, that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Optimism that rollouts of coronavirus vaccines will set the stage for stronger economic growth in the second half of this year has been pushing the stock market higher. But expectations of a post-pandemic recovery also have resurrected concerns over inflation that could prompt governments and central banks to pull back on stimulus down the road in several months or even a year.

A sign of how painful the U.S. economy remains for many Americans, and the argument for why additional stimulus is needed, came in this week’s jobless claims report. The government reported that applications for jobless benefits rose last week to 861,000. That’s the latest indication that layoffs remain high as coronavirus shutdowns keep many businesses closed.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January policy meeting released Wednesday showed central bank officials believed the pandemic still poses considerable risks to the economy and still support keeping interest rates low in order to boost the economy and help millions of Americans regain lost jobs.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has cautioned that inflation could accelerate for a time in coming months as the country opens up. But he and many private economists believe this will be only a temporary rise and not a sign that inflation is getting out of control.

Dow component Walmart slumped 6% after reporting weaker results than analysts were expecting.