U.S. stocks slip, but markets worldwide hold steadier after oil prices ease a bit

Wall Street is stumbling toward the finish line of a fourth straight losing week on Friday, but an ease in oil prices is taking some of the pressure off stock markets worldwide.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7 per cent in morning trading and was on track for a fourth straight losing week, its longest such streak in a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 136 points, or 0.3 per cent, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2 per cent lower.

U.S. stocks sank under the weight of another rise for yields in the bond market. That makes borrowing more expensive for U.S. companies and households, slowing the economy, and it grinds down on prices for all kinds of investments. Treasury yields have been climbing since the war with Iran began because it could cause a long-term spike in oil and natural gas prices that drives up inflation.

Worries have gotten so high that traders have canceled most bets that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates multiple times this year, or even jut once, according to data from CME Group. Some see a modest chance for a rate hike in 2026, which was a nearly unthinkable scenario before the war began.

Lower interest rates would give the economy and investment prices a boost, and they’re something U.S. President Donald Trump has angrily been calling for. Before attacks by the United States and Israel began the war with Iran, traders were betting heavily that the Fed would cut interest rates at least twice this year.

But lower rates also risk worsening inflation. And with oil prices so much higher now, investors see little room for central banks worldwide to cut interest rates to help their economies. Besides the Federal Reserve, central banks in Europe, Tokyo and London also held their interest rates steady this past week.