Dow Jones and Nasdaq Down: Why Rising Oil Prices and Treasury Yields Pressure Tech Stocks

On Monday, September 28, 2026, US stock markets recorded substantial losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.67 percent or 347.11 points to 51,481.51 points. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.92 percent to 26,820.38 points, the S&P 500 declined 0.77 percent to 7,683.69 points. The main drag on markets was rising Treasury yields, which put particular pressure on tech and growth stocks.

Treasury Yields at Multi-Year Highs

The yield on 10-year US Treasury securities exceeded 5.2 percent on September 28, 2026 and reached approximately 5.27 percent at times; compared to the previous day's close, this corresponded to an increase of seven basis points to 5.24 percent (US Department of Treasury). The yield on 30-year securities climbed above 5.5 percent. According to multiple market reports, both yields were in ranges not seen in years.

Rising yields have a disproportionate impact on growth stocks, as their valuations depend heavily on future cash flows. A higher discount rate reduces the present value of these future earnings—an effect market participants refer to as the duration mechanism. Technology stocks with high valuation multiples are particularly affected by this.

Oil Prices with Volatile Movements

Parallel to the yield movements, crude oil prices rose sharply after an Iranian mediation proposal was rejected. A uniform closing price cannot be derived from the market reports of this volatile trading day: For WTI, the figures range from approximately 93 dollars per barrel (Yahoo Finance, Investrade) to 96.31 dollars (TheStreet), for Brent from approximately 98 dollars to 104.46 dollars (Yahoo Finance) to 108.50 dollars (TheStreet). The sources agree on the direction: uncertainty in the Middle East led to significant risk premiums for both crude types.

The combination of rising yields and higher oil prices intensified the pressure on the technology sector. While higher energy costs increase input costs for companies, the macroeconomic conditions further tightened market sentiment.

Tech Stocks with Sharp Declines

Technology stocks recorded disproportionate declines on September 28, 2026. Advanced Micro Devices lost approximately 5 percent, Micron Technology shed around 4 percent. Amazon and Microsoft also came under pressure. The price reactions were macro-driven and did not correlate with company-specific announcements.

Nvidia was an exception: the stock stood out from the general downtrend after the company announced another major share buyback. Multiple sources cited a buyback volume of 150 billion dollars, which supported the stock.

Sectoral Differences in the Market

While mega-cap tech stocks and consumer stocks led the losses, software stocks showed offsetting trends. Some software titles rose against the general downtrend. Gold and silver markets also came under pressure, pointing to broader risk-averse sentiment.

The market mechanics illustrated how macroeconomic factors can overshadow the perception of individual companies. Regardless of specific company announcements, yield-driven valuation adjustments dominated price movements.

Tuesday Without Recovery

On Tuesday, September 29, 2026, recovery failed to materialize: the Nasdaq Composite closed at 26,797.54 points, down another 0.09 percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.17 percent to 7,670.84 points. Oil prices declined, but Treasury yields rose further—the ten-year yield to 5.26 percent, the thirty-year to 5.59 percent and thus at the highest level since 2002 (US Department of Treasury). The volatility of the past days showed the strong dependence of tech stocks on macroeconomic variables.

The developments of the week from September 23 to 29, 2026 fit into a recurring pattern: already in May 2026, similar constellations of rising yields and oil prices had put the Nasdaq under pressure, while the Dow Jones remained relatively stable.