Higher yields in the bond market and a drop for Walmart drag US stocks lower

Higher oil prices pushed inflation worries and bond yields higher Thursday, undoing some of the relief US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent created the day before. US stocks slid as the bond market took center stage: the S&P 500 fell 0.7%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 612 points (1.2%), and the Nasdaq fell 1.1% by 2:32 p.m. Eastern. Bessent’s Wednesday move increased planned longer-term Treasury purchases from Sept. 9 through Nov. 4 to at least double the previous size, briefly lowering yields after the 10-year climbed to more than a year highs and the 30-year returned to 2007 levels. Walmart dropped 9.3%.