Update: US Equity Indexes Mixed as Treasury Yields Pile Pressure After Higher Consumer Spending Accompanies Soft Inflation Print

05:10 PM EDT, 09/30/2026 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with index/price moves and geopolitical news from the first paragraph.) US equity indexes traded mixed Wednesday as yields on mid- to long-term government bonds were elevated after personal consumption spending jumped amid a mild inflation print. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% to 26,861.06 at the close. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% to 7,651.54, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9% to 50,906.05. The personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index grew 0.3% in August, as expected, keeping the year-over-year rate at 3.4%, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The index edged up 0.1% month-over-month in July. Core PCE climbed 0.2%, below the 0.3% expected and a 0.1% gain in July. The year-over-year rate remained at 3.0%. However, the BES data showed personal consumption expenditures jumped 0.9%, as expected, after a 0.1% move in July. Real PCE, which excludes inflation, advanced 0.6%, following a 0.1% gain in July and compared with expectations for a 0.5% increase, undermining the soft inflation print. The BES also revised its third estimate of Q2 real gross domestic product to 2.2% annualized from a 1.5% second estimate amid robust consumer spending growth. A Bloomberg survey found consensus expected the growth rate to remain unrevised. US Treasury yields traded mixed, with maturities below two years declining. The two-year yield leaned higher to 4.9%. The 10-year yield jumped 3.8 basis points to 5.29%, its strongest level since 2007. The 30-year rate climbed 4.3 basis points to 5.64%, the loftiest since 2002. Still, traders slashed the probability of the Federal Reserve raising its target rate by 25 basis points in October to 35% from 51% a day ago and 71% a week earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The remaining 65% likelihood is that the Fed will leave policy unchanged in the 3.75% to 4% range after lifting rates by a quarter of a percentage point in September. Technology and communication services sectors were the sole gainers at the close. "For the Fed, a lack of upside acceleration - at least on an annual basis - could remove some sense of urgency to take additional action in October," Lindsey Piegza, Stifel's Chief Economist, said in a note. "The still nominally elevated level of price pressures suggests the Fed has significant work to do to ensure a return to price stability, let alone in a timelier manner (as suggested in the September statement)." The front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract advanced 1.4% to $90.63 per barrel, and the global benchmark North Sea Brent rose 0.9% to $103.53 per barrel. US President Donald Trump said, "very soon, you'll see things happening" on Iran, while also praising Washington's withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Al Jazeera, a Middle Eastern broadcaster, reported. Meanwhile, Iran said it received a US response to Tehran's offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the country's senior leaders review Washington's counter-proposal. In company news, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) raised its fiscal 2027 revenue growth outlook for its networking segment while securing a $1.2 billion order from Vultr. Shares jumped 3.9%, one of the top gainers in the S&P 500. Salesforce (CRM) signed an agreement to acquire AI-powered client research platform Listen Labs to expand its user understanding capabilities, it said late Tuesday. Salesforce shares advanced 1.9%, among the Dow's leaders. Gold futures edged up 0.2% to $4,189.3, while silver futures declined 0.7% to $60.71.