Wall Street stocks were in the red on Wednesday as investors turned their attention back to elevated bond yields.
As of 1520 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.15% at 31,345.43, while the S&P 500 was 0.76% weaker at 3,840.93 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.60% softer at 13,145.06.
The Dow Jones opened 46.09 points lower on Wednesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session.
In focus early on Wednesday were comments from President Joe Biden late on Tuesday that the US would have a large enough supply of Covid-19 vaccines to cover every adult in the country by the end of May, a whole two months ahead of schedule.
Stocks likely to benefit from economic activity picking up were in the green in early trading, with Norwegian Cruise Line up 2.79%.
However, also demanding an amount of investor attention was the 10-year Treasury yield, which ticked up to 1.48% at the open, spooking investors about increased borrowing costs and inflation and weighing on major indices yet again.
On the macro front, mortgage application figures for the week ended 26 February showed that rising interest rates had weighed on demand yet again, with total mortgage application volume rising just 0.5%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Elsewhere, private sector employment in the States grew a tad less quickly than anticipated last month, the results of a closely-followed survey revealed. According to consultancy ADP, private sector payrolls increased by 117,000 in February, short of consensus estimates for a reading of 165,000.
Lastly, economic activity in the service sector continued to expand in February, although at a softer pace than it did in the prior month, with the Institute of Supply Management’s services PMI declining to 55.3 from 58.7, missing market expectations of 58.7.
In the corporate space, fast-food chain Wendy’s posted a net income of $38.7m, or $0.17 per share, while revenues grew from $427.2m to $474.3m.
