Update: US Equity Indexes Trade Mixed Amid Higher Crude Oil, Treasury Yields

03:59 PM EDT, 09/24/2026 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with index/price moves and geopolitical news from the first paragraph.) US equity indexes were mixed as stronger macroeconomic data, higher oil prices, and hawkish Fed speak pushed government bond yields higher. The Nasdaq Composite rose less than 0.1% to 26,945.7, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 51,361.2, and the S&P 500 was unchanged at 7,705.7 ahead of Thursday's close. All but four sectors, energy, communication services, real estate and healthcare, slumped. Industrials, consumer staples and materials were among the decliners. Initial jobless claims fell to 197,000 in the week ended Sept. 19 from an upwardly revised 198,000, compared with expectations for an increase to 200,000 in a Bloomberg-compiled poll. The four-week moving average declined by 1,750 to 202,250. US Treasury yields jumped across the term structure. The 10-year yield rose 6.7 basis points to 5.18%, the highest since 2007, and the 30-year rate advanced seven basis points to 5.47%, the strongest level since 2004. "Some modest further tightening may be warranted" to bring inflation down to the Federal Reserve's 2% target, Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson said Thursday. The front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract climbed 3.4% to $95.29 per barrel, while the global benchmark North Sea Brent advanced 4.2% to $107.39 per barrel. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met at the White House in Washington, DC. Xi told Trump he supported a memorandum of understanding that the US signed with Iran and the end of naval blockades, Al Jazeera, a Middle Eastern broadcaster, cited Chinese state media.