Tech pulls stocks lower as bond yields continue upward march

Technology companies led another broad sell-off on Wall Street on Thursday as a spike in bond yields put more pressure on the market’s highflying stocks.

The S&P 500 fell 1.3%, its third straight loss. The benchmark index is on track for its third consecutive weekly loss. Just four days ago it notched its biggest gain since June. That market rally was driven by what now appears to be a brief pause in the recent, swift rise in bond yields, which in turn pushes up interest rates on loans for consumers and businesses.

The latest losses came as the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose sharply during a question-andanswer session with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who said inflation will likely pick up in the coming months. He cautioned that the increase will be temporary and won’t be enough for the Fed to alter its low-interest rate policies.

The S&P 500 fell 51.25 points (1.3%) to 3,768.47. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 345.95 (1.1%) to 30,924.14. The Nasdaq composite dropped 274.28 (2.1%) to 12,723.47. The pullback knocked the tech-heavy index into the red for the year. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gave up 60.87 (2.8%) to 2,146.92.