Thursday, September 24, 2026 Opening bell

Bond selloff deepens as Xi lands in Washington

Overnight

Wall Street closed broadly lower on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 down 0.8% to 7,706.03, the Dow down 0.7% to 51,511.59 and the Nasdaq down 1.1% to 26,936.04, after a surprisingly strong purchasing managers index, a monthly survey of how busy companies are, revived inflation worries and pushed the 10-year Treasury yield to 5.106%, its highest since 2007. Tokyo reopened from an extended holiday and rose 0.76% to 65,514 on strength in chip and AI names, while Shanghai and Hong Kong fell. Europe is softer this morning, with the Stoxx 600 off about 0.5% and the DAX off 0.6%, and US futures point to a weaker open, with S&P 500 futures down 0.4% and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.6% as oil rises again.

What to watch

Weekly jobless claims and new home sales land before and just after the open, and both feed the same argument the bond market is having about whether the economy is too hot for the Fed to cut rates. The Treasury sells 7-year notes at midday, which is the cleanest live test of whether buyers will actually show up at these yields, and Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin speaks. Costco and Darden Restaurants report earnings, giving a read on how households are spending, and President Trump meets China's Xi Jinping, with trade the obvious subject.