The US markets ended lower on Wednesday as Treasury yields jumped higher amid concerns among investors that more interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve may be coming down the pike. Fed Governor Michael Barr said that the US central bank took an important step last week to ‘recalibrate’ short-term borrowing costs to bring down inflation, and will likely need to deliver further interest rate hikes. On the economic data front, the US business activity raced to a more than five-year high in September, fueled by a surge in new orders. The S&P Global US Flash Composite PMI rose to 58.4 in September 2026 from 56 in August, pointing to the strongest expansion in private-sector activity since July 2021 and marking a fourth consecutive month of accelerating growth. The gains were driven by the service sector (58.7 vs 56.5), which reported the steepest rise in output for over five years, while manufacturing also accelerated (56.7 vs 53.1). New order inflows gathered pace, buoyed principally by the domestic market.
Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 352.10 points or 0.68 percent to 51,511.59, Nasdaq fell by 308.24 points or 1.13 percent to 26,936.04 and S&P 500 was down by 58.61 points or 0.75% to 7,706.03.
