Wall Street Opens Lower as Chip Stocks Fall and Bond Yields Climb

United States stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite leading the declines as oil prices rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, about 131 points, to end at 52,925.15, the S&P 500 lost 0.5% to 7,503.85, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.2% to 25,818.69 as semiconductor and other large technology shares faced selling pressure. Yields on US government bonds rose as markets increased their wagers on a rate increase.

The market's caution reflected two pressures at the same time. The overnight strikes on Iran raised energy costs, which feeds inflation, while investors weighed the minutes of the Federal Reserve's June 16 to 17 policy meeting, released during the session. The record showed a committee under its new chair, Kevin Warsh, that held its benchmark rate at 3.50% to 3.75% but adopted a more restrictive tone, removing earlier signals that rate cuts were near. Nine of the nineteen policymakers expected at least one more increase before the end of 2026, and officials revised their forecast for the inflation gauge the Federal Reserve watches most closely (the PCE price index) up to 3.6% for the year.

Even so, the reaction was measured rather than severe. Analysts described equity losses as contained relative to the size of the oil move, and in Tel Aviv, bank and technology shares rose even as real-estate indexes fell and the dollar weakened, a divergence that suggests investors are discriminating between sectors rather than selling broadly. After the minutes, traders still assigned roughly a 76% probability that the central bank would hold rates at its next meeting. Large technology firms, meanwhile, are increasingly funding the artificial-intelligence buildout through bond issuance rather than cash.