By Liz Moyer
Investing.com – U.S. stocks fell at the open as Treasury yields jumped. Inflation data expected on Tuesday could encourage the Federal Reserve to act more aggressively on interest rates.
At 9:45 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 136.9 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.9% and the NASDAQ Composite fell 1.5%.
Oil prices also slipped, with Crude Oil WTI Futures falling more than 3% in early trading to around $94 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark United States 10-Year Treasury, which moves the opposite of price, rose 0.096, to 2.75%.
Higher bond yields put pressure on growth sectors of the market, and technology stocks were down in early trading. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), the electric car maker, was down 2.6% after it reported gains in sales in China in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter.
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB), the parent of Facebook, fell 1.1%.
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shares fell in pre-market trading but had reversed that and traded up 2% shortly after the opening bell. Elon Musk, the billionaire and Tesla CEO who recently acquired a 9.2% stake in the social media company, backed away from joining its board.
In an abbreviated week for U.S. stock trading – the market is closed on Friday – bank earnings are expected this week as well as inflation data on Tuesday that could show consumer prices rose 8.4% in March over the same month last year.
Gold Futures prices rose 0.7%, to $1958/oz.