Good morning and welcome to Markets Desk, your Tuesday open on the floors.
Bond markets are driving the story today, with the ten-year Treasury yield climbing to its highest level since January of this year as oil pushes back above ninety-two dollars a barrel. Inflation fears are doing real damage on Wall Street — the S&P five hundred is off seven-tenths of a percent, the Dow dropped nearly three hundred points at the open, and the Nasdaq is leading losses down one point four percent. When crude runs higher, traders reprice inflation risk fast, and that's exactly what you're seeing in yields right now.
The manufacturing picture is adding to that unease. The Institute for Supply Management's August index showed activity expanding, but at a slightly slower pace than markets had anticipated. It's not a contraction, but a softer-than-expected read on manufacturing, layered on top of rising yields, gives investors one more reason to stay cautious heading into the fall.
In the grain pits, corn is fading off overnight highs, with December futures down roughly nine cents from their peak. The complex finished August on a constructive note — up one to three and a half cents on the final session — but Tuesday morning's pullback suggests some of that momentum is getting absorbed after open interest climbed more than fifteen thousand contracts on Monday.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
