US open: Mixed start on Wall Street as bond yields remain elevated

1st Oct 2026 14:59

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street trading got off to a mixed start on Thursday as Treasury yields continued to hover at multi-decade highs.

As of 1515 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.09% at 50,859.35, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.11% to 7,660.19 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.25% firmer at 26,928.95.

The Dow opened 46.70 points lower on Thursday, extending losses recorded in the previous session.

Thursday's early moves come as the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising more than one basis point to 5.303% to trade near levels not seen since 2002, while the the 30-year bond yield was up one and a half basis point at 5.649%.

On the macro front, US employers announced 43,281 job cuts in September, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, down from 52,881 in August and 54,064 a year earlier, marking the lowest September total since 2022. The tech sector led reductions with 10,799 planned cuts, followed by food at 7,326 and services at 3,306. Third‑quarter layoff plans totalled 129,591, a 43% drop from the 226,242 recorded in Q2. Year‑to‑date, employers have announced 573,195 cuts, down 39% from the 946,426 seen in the first nine months of 2025. Tech remained the largest contributor, with 165,925 cuts so far this year.

Elsewhere, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 26 September, according to the Labor Department, extending recent resilience in the labour market. Initial jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 197,000, better than expectations for an increase to 200,000 and in keeping with a recent run of low claim counts since hitting an almost 60-year low of 189,000 in mid July. Continuing claims fell by 11,000 week-on-week to 1.7m, below expectations of 1.71m, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, came in at 200,000, a decrease of 2,500 from the prior week.

On another note, the US manufacturing sector strengthened in September, according to S&P Global, with firms reporting faster growth in output and new orders as domestic demand improved and hiring picked up to the strongest pace in more than five years. The headline US manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 55.9, up from 53.9 in August and the highest reading since May 2022, marking a 14th straight month of expansion. All five components contributed to the rise, with output and new orders showing the sharpest gains. Survey respondents pointed to broad‑based demand, particularly from government and tech‑related industries. Domestic orders drove the improvement, while export sales fell for a fifteenth consecutive month amid tariffs and elevated shipping costs.

Still on data, the Institute for Supply Management said US manufacturing activity continued to expand in September, with the headline PMI easing slightly to 54.5 from 54.6 but still marking a ninth straight month of growth. New orders strengthened, rising to 55.3, while production and employment also remained in expansion territory. Price pressures intensified, with the prices index jumping to 77.9, and backlogs grew at a faster pace as firms reported firmer demand and ongoing capacity strain. Supply‑chain conditions deteriorated again, with supplier delivery times lengthening for a tenth consecutive month and inventories slipping back into contraction. Export orders softened, reflecting tariff effects, while imports continued to grow.

Finally, US construction spending edged higher in August, according to the Census Bureau, rising 0.9% to an annualised $2.2trn. Despite the monthly gain, total spending remained 1.7% below year‑earlier levels, with outlays over the first eight months of 2026 down 3.1% compared with the same period in 2025. Private construction led the improvement, climbing 1.1% to $1.66trn, supported by similar increases across both residential and non‑residential at $882.3bn and $773bn, respectively. Public construction was broadly flat, rising 0.2% to $547.8bn, with educational and highway spending little changed on the month.

In the corporate space, Semiconductor group Micron Technology posted stronger‑than‑expected quarterly results after the close on Wednesday as the memory‑chip maker continued to benefit from surging demand for AI infrastructure. Micron said adjusted earnings per share came in at $33.42, ahead of the $31.61 expected on the Street, while revenues rose to $54.23bn, topping forecasts of $51.07bn and almost quadrupling from $11.32bn a year earlier.

Nike will report its latest quarterly earnings figures after the close of trading.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $229.04 4.34%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $235.32 2.53%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $35.80 1.17%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $205.78 0.88%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $518.61 0.74%

Visa Inc. (V) $360.70 0.59%

Boeing Co. (BA) $186.95 0.56%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $231.45 0.34%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $367.43 0.31%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $108.12 0.25%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $26.94 -2.07%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $279.05 -1.75%

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $103.42 -1.43%

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $419.02 -1.15%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $143.79 -1.11%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $887.96 -0.68%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $263.53 -0.47%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $144.52 -0.39%

American Express Co. (AXP) $301.95 -0.36%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $327.77 -0.34%

S&P 500 - Risers

Accenture Plc (ACN) $222.55 23.02%

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $487.55 15.69%

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $63.07 12.41%

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $351.21 8.09%

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $22.43 7.21%

Dxc Technology Company (DXC) $11.50 7.16%

Gartner Inc. (IT) $198.00 6.85%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $283.58 5.83%

McKesson Corp. (MCK) $891.38 5.20%

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $212.99 4.68%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $50.90 -13.55%

Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $32.56 -8.62%

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (BHF) $50.12 -3.58%

Equity Residential (EQR) $63.66 -3.50%

Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $105.34 -3.30%

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (APD) $268.77 -3.21%

Mosaic Company (MOS) $20.79 -3.12%

Celanese Corp. (CE) $42.80 -2.85%

International Paper Co. (IP) $32.24 -2.73%

Alliant Energy Corp. (LNT) $62.67 -2.72%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $487.55 15.69%

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $63.07 12.41%

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $351.21 8.09%

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $22.43 7.21%

Intuit Inc. (INTU) $283.58 5.83%

Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $212.99 4.68%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $337.00 3.84%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $242.62 3.63%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $530.28 3.53%

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $130.29 2.81%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.34 -13.49%

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $85.70 -2.53%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $1,046.52 -2.50%

Incyte Corp. (INCY) $120.11 -2.33%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $8.77 -2.22%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $271.86 -2.20%

Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $57.76 -2.10%

Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $9.08 -2.05%

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $68.38 -1.91%

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $907.25 -1.84%