World markets today: US stocks decline as Treasury yields rise

US stocks declined on Monday as Treasury yields surged after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell indicated that it is unlikely to begin rate cutting in March.

At 10:05 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 255.47 points, or 0.66 per cent, at 38,398.95, the S&P 500 was down 20.21 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 4,938.40, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 69.85 points, or 0.45 per cent, at 15,559.10.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 107.65 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 38,546.77. The S&P 500 opened lower by 1.42 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 4,957.19, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 14.96 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 15,613.99 at the opening bell.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.12 per cent from 4.09 per cent on Friday.

In an interview on Sunday, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell again said that the Fed may cut interest rates three times this year because inflation has been cooling. But he indicated again that the Fed is unlikely to begin in March.

Shares of Caterpillar jumped 1.2 per cent, Estee Lauder surged 14.6 per cent and Nvidia gained 4 per cent.

Boeing fell 2.1 per cent after reporting new quality glitch in some 737 MAX planes.

Tesla dropped 3.4 per cent after Piper Sandler cut the stock's price target.

European stocks mostly fell on Monday.

Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2 per cent at 7,629.29. Germany’s DAX was down less than 0.1 per cent at 16,905.70. France’s CAC 40 edged down less than 0.1 per cent at 7,588.75.

In Asian stock markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged down 0.2 per cent at 15,510.01. China’s Shanghai Composite fell 1.0 per cent at 2,702.18.

Nikkei 225 rose 0.5 per cent at 36,354.16. 

Oil prices were flat on Monday.

Brent crude futures gained 10 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $77.43 a barrel by 1420 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate futures were flat at $72.28 a barrel.

Gold dropped on Monday, weighed down by a higher US dollar and bond yields.

Spot gold was down 1.1 per cent at $2,017.27 per ounce by 9:32 a.m. ET (1432 GMT).  US gold futures fell 1 per cent to $2,033.80 per ounce.