Sept 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended lower on Wednesday, with oil prices still stuck at over $100 a barrel, as ongoing Gulf tensions and inflation fears weighed on investors.
All three major U.S. indices ended the day lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down by 0.77%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.48% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.64%. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe was down 0.52% following the U.S. market close.
Stocks were negative all day, as headlines also focused on oil prices surging past $100 a barrel for the first time since July. Iran said it had attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. sank five Iranian oil tankers. [O/R]
Brent crude settled up 3.4% on the day, or $101.21 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was up $3.02, or 3.25%, at $96.05 a barrel. Both were the highest closing prices seen since May.
At the same time, yields on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 3.66 basis points to 4.841%, hitting levels not seen since November 2023, after the Treasury Department announced it would buy up to $6 billion in 10-to-20-year government bonds. The buyback was higher than the $4 billion the Treasury had signaled earlier. Some analysts had expected a larger purchase to support longer duration bonds.