Stocks fall on inflation, interest-rate jitters
NEW YORK -- The stock market has a new priority: interest rates.
Stocks fell moderately Wednesday after the government sold $19 billion in 10-year Treasury notes in a relatively weak auction. There were plenty of bidders, but the government had to lure them in with a higher yield than the market had anticipated.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose for the fourth time in five days, jumping to 3.95% from 3.86% late Tuesday. That helped send stocks broadly lower, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing 24 points.
Investors are concerned the government's debt load is growing so large that it will lead to higher inflation and soaring interest rates. Higher interest rates could hamper the economy's recovery by raising borrowing costs for consumers, while inflation could also discourage them from spending.
Stocks have fallen several times in the past two months on worries over interest rates. Yields on long-term Treasury bonds jumped on May 21, sending the stock market sharply lower, after Standard & Poor's warned it might downgrade the British government's AAA debt rating. That touched off fears that the U.S. government's own debt rating might be in downgraded at some point, as some analysts say.
A weakening dollar has also contributed to the concerns about interest rates, since it can lead to higher prices for imported goods, putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to hold inflation in check by raising short-term interest rates.
The dollar's slump has also stirred inflationary worries by driving up prices for key commodities such as oil, which can trigger higher prices everywhere. The price of crude rose above $71 a barrel on Wednesday, its highest level this year.
Jeffrey Frankel, president of Stuart Frankel & Co., said the Treasury auction rattled some traders. But he added that several cautious pullbacks in a stock market that went nearly straight up for three consecutive months are not necessarily a bad thing.
"You have some people reading the history books, thinking, 'This looks familiar to what the books tell us happened during the Great Depression,' " he said. "Then you have others that saying, 'Don't sell America short.'"
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