Rising oil and Treasury yields push U.S. stocks lower ahead of earnings

Wall Street opened lower on Thursday as oil prices surged to more than $104 a barrel, driven by heightened concerns over shipping attacks in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. The rally in Brent pushed the 10-year Treasury yield to 5.29%, a level not seen since 2002, stoking inflation worries ahead of a critical earnings period. Megacap growth names—including Amazon, Tesla and Nvidia—trimmed gains, while semiconductor firms such as Intel, AMD and Marvell each slipped 2-3%.

In Asia, Samsung Electronics failed to lift sentiment despite forecasts of record quarterly profit, and Micron Technology fell 1.4%. Reports that Broadcom is securing $50 billion of financing for OpenAI, with Oracle also seeking capital, added to concerns about a wave of tech-sector debt. Energy and consumer-staples stocks rose, but eight of eleven S&P 500 sectors ended in the red, with technology and healthcare hit hardest. Analysts note that the market now faces dual headwinds from energy prices and high yields as investors await earnings reports next week.