On Wednesday, US equity indexes saw gains after midday as a decline in volatility and a pull-back in crude oil prices, alongside higher government bond yields, positively influenced risk sentiment. The Nasdaq Composite climbed by 0.3% to reach 17,971.6 points, while the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to settle at 5,716.62 points.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average reported a minimal rise of less than 0.1%, reaching 42,189.7. Technology stocks emerged as the leading gainers during the intraday trading, contrasting with declines in sectors like consumer staples and real estate. The market's stability was further impacted by geopolitical tensions, particularly involving Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters, who engaged in ground conflict in southern Lebanon following Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel.
This offensive, reported to be the largest to date, surprisingly did not inflict any significant damage on Israel's vital civil and defense infrastructure, nor on its intelligence capabilities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that Iran had committed a 'big mistake' and warned that they 'will pay,' although he revealed little regarding any counter-attack strategies. In the commodity markets, West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices increased by 0.6% to $70.23 a barrel, having briefly surged more than 3% earlier in the trading day before conceding some of the Middle East risk premium.
Meanwhile, the CBOE Volatility Index, which acts as a fear gauge for investors, registered a decline of 2.4%, settling at 18.79, reversing earlier session increases. In the bond market, most US Treasury yields advanced, with the 10-year yield experiencing a bump of 4.5 basis points to 3.79%, while the two-year rate inched up by 1.6 basis points, reaching 3.64%.
Turning to precious metals, gold prices fell by 0.7%, settling at $2,671.90 per ounce, whereas silver saw an uptick of 1%, closing at $32.06 due to a decrease in demand for safe-haven assets. From the economic front, ADP's latest monthly analysis of private payrolls reported a robust increase of 143,000 jobs in September, surpassing the estimates compiled by Bloomberg, which anticipated a gain of 125,000.
This rise came on the heels of an upwardly revised increase of 103,000 jobs reported for August. In specific company updates, Humana ($HUM) shares plummeted by 16% intraday, marking the worst performance on the S&P 500, as the company revealed in a regulatory filing that the percentage of members enrolled in its Medicare Advantage Plans rated four stars or higher dropped dramatically from 94% in 2024 to just 25% for 2025.
Additionally, Nike ($NKE) saw its shares fall nearly 6% intraday, ranking among the steepest losers on both the S&P 500 and the Dow, following the announcement of lower fiscal Q1 earnings and revenue figures..