Wall St. Mixed on Bond Market Pressure 09/25 09:36

   A sluggish day for stocks on Monday is keeping September on track to be the 
worst month of the year for Wall Street.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- A sluggish day for stocks on Monday is keeping September on 
track to be the worst month of the year for Wall Street.

   The S&P 500 was 0.1% lower in early trading, coming off its worst week in 
six months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 73 points, or 0.2%, at 
33,890, as of 9:53 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was virtually 
unchanged.

   Stocks have struggled recently as the realization sinks in that the Federal 
Reserve will likely keep interest rates high well into next year. The Fed wants 
to ensure high inflation gets back down to its target, and it said last week it 
will likely cut interest rates in 2024 by less than traders expected. Its main 
interest rate is already at its highest level since 2001.

   A growing understanding that rates will stay higher for longer has pushed 
yields in the bond market up to their highest levels in more than a decade. 
That in turn makes investors less willing to pay high prices for all kinds of 
investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive or making their 
owners wait the longest for big future growth.

   The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.50% from 4.44% late Friday and 
is near its highest level since 2007. That's up sharply from about 3.50% in May 
and from 0.50% about three years ago.

   "Stocks digest gradual, growth driven increases in interest rates far better 
than rapid increases driven by other factors such as inflation or Fed policy," 
Goldman Sachs strategists led by David Kostin wrote in a report.

   Higher yields are at the head of a long line of concerns weighing on Wall 
Street. Economies around the world are looking shaky, oil prices have jumped by 
$20 per barrel since June and the resumption of U.S. student-loan repayments 
may weaken what's been the economy's greatest strength, spending by households.

   In the near term, the U.S. government may be set for another shutdown amid 
more political squabbles on Capitol Hill. But Wall Street has managed its way 
through previous shutdowns, and "history shows that past ones haven't had much 
of an impact on the market," according to Chris Larkin, managing director of 
trading and investing at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.

   On Wall Street, stocks of media and entertainment companies were mixed after 
unionized screenwriters reached a tentative deal on Sunday to end their 
historic strike. No deal yet exists for striking actors.

   Netflix rose 0.7%, while The Walt Disney Co. gained 0.5%. Warner Brothers 
Discover slipped 0.7%.

   Amazon rose 1.3% after it announced an investment of up to $4 billion in 
Anthropic, as it takes a minority stake in the artificial intelligence startup. 
It's the latest Big Tech company to pour money into AI in the race to profit 
from opportunities that the latest generation of the technology is set to fuel.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes slumped sharply across Europe and much of 
Asia. France's CAC 40 fell 1.1%, and Germany's DAX lost 1.3%.

   In China, troubled property developer China Evergrande sank nearly 22% after 
announcing it was unable to raise further debt due to an investigation into one 
of its affiliates. That might imperil plans for restructuring its more than 
$300 billion in debt.

   China's faltering economic recovery has already removed a big engine of 
growth for the world.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.8%, while stocks in Shanghai fell 0.5%.