Update: US Equity Indexes Mixed as Higher Spending, Soft Inflation Print Split Moves in Treasury Yields

12:30 PM EDT, 09/30/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes traded mixed as August spending growth and a soft inflation report left government bond yields searching for direction while bets favoring a back-to-back monetary policy tightening slumped. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1% to 27,054.1, the S&P 500 advanced 0.5% to 7,710.2, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% to 51,303.5 after midday Wednesday. The personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index grew 0.3% in August, as expected, keeping the year-over-year move at 3.4%, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis Wednesday. The index edged up 0.1% month-over-month in July. Core PCE climbed 0.2%, below the 0.3% expected and a 0.1% gain in July. The year-over-year rate remained at 3.0%. However, personal consumption expenditures jumped 0.9%, as expected, after a 0.1% move in July. Real PCE, which excludes inflation, advanced 0.6%, following a 0.1% gain in July and compared with expectations for a 0.5% increase. US Treasury yields traded mixed, with maturities below seven years declining. The two-year yield fell 2.1 basis points to 4.87% after hitting a 52-week high on Tuesday. The 10-year yield rose 1.7 basis points to 5.27%, its strongest level since 2007. Traders priced in a 42% probability that the Federal Reserve will raise its target rate by 25 basis points in October, down from 51% a day ago and 71% a week earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Technology and communication services topped the gainers after midday. All but four sectors declined. The front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract jumped 2.1% to $91.25 per barrel, and the global benchmark North Sea Brent rose 1% to $103.57 per barrel.