Wall Street Closes Lower as Oil, Treasury Yields Surge; Tech Shares Lead Declines

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, as rising oil prices and strong economic data drove Treasury yields higher and fueled expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike. The S&P 500 dropped 0.75% to 7,706.05, the Nasdaq fell 1.13% to 26,936.04 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.68% to 51,511.59. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would not yield to U.S. pressure, raising fears of prolonged Middle East conflict. International oil prices climbed nearly 4%, lifting energy shares. U.S. business activity rose to a more than five-year high, pushing the 2-year Treasury yield to its highest since 2024 and the 10-year yield to its highest since 2007. CME FedWatch showed markets pricing a 71% chance of a Fed rate hike in October. Megacaps slumped: Alphabet (GOOGL) fell 3.8%, Amazon (AMZN) 2.2% and Nvidia (NVDA) 1.5%; the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lost 1.2%. Meta Platforms (META) rose 1%, extending a 12% weekly gain, on positive reception to its "Muse" AI assistant. Travel platforms Expedia (EXPE) and Airbnb (ABNB) each plunged more than 7%.