US stocks shrug off higher bond yields, ending flat

NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks finished with little change on Oct 22, digesting a trove of mostly solid earnings while shrugging off higher treasury bond yields.

After opening lower, major indices pushed into positive territory in the afternoon before losing steam after that.

“The market is just kind of grinding and not doing a whole lot,” said Mr Art Hogan, of B. Riley Wealth Management. “It’s indicative of a market taking a step back.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended essentially unchanged at 42,924.89.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent to 5,851.20, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.2 per cent at 18,573.13.

The flattish day came as US Treasury yields climbed, a dynamic that has sometimes pressured stocks.

“I think that there’s a tension between the fact that yields are rising which obviously means that bonds are more competitive with stocks,” said Mr Tom Cahill, of Ventura Wealth Management.

“On the other hand, it’s also indicative that the economy might be stronger than we thought it may have been. So you have that tension there.”

Among individual companies, General Motors shot up around 10 per cent as it raised its full-year forecast, reflecting strong vehicle pricing that boosted third-quarter earnings.

But GE Aerospace slumped 9.1 per cent despite increasing its annual projections amid strong demand. However, analysts pointed to lingering concerns connected to a Boeing strike that has shuttered two US plane production plants. AFP