Major U.S. stock indexes closed lower again on Tuesday. Although oil prices retreated, long-term Treasury yields continued to rise as investors weighed energy costs, inflation, economic growth and government debt. Consumer confidence also fell for a third consecutive month. The market is entering a historically strong fourth quarter, but interest-rate pressure has become a central concern for investors.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.09% to 26,797 at the close. The S&P 500 declined 0.8% to 7,683, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.7% to 51,481.
30-Year Treasury Yield Extends Six-Day Rise
Oil prices moved lower during the session. Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 3.7% to $89.21 a barrel, while Brent crude, the global benchmark, declined 1.9% to $95.95.
The bond market moved in the opposite direction. The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield rose 2.5 basis points to 5.587%, marking its sixth consecutive daily increase. It briefly moved above 5.61%, the first time it had reached that level since 2002. Yields on the two-year and 10-year notes also touched 52-week highs before retreating. The two-year yield fell 3.5 basis points to 4.889%, while the 10-year yield added 0.9 basis points to 5.251%.
Consumer data pointed to further pressure on household sentiment. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 81.9 in September, its lowest level since April 2014 and below the market expectation of 89.0. The August reading was revised to 88.6. Barclays economist Pooja Sriram said persistent inflation, elevated gasoline prices and limited job opportunities may have weighed on confidence.
Seasonal Fourth-Quarter Support Meets Rate Concerns
Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates noted that the fourth quarter is typically a strong seasonal period for equities, while the third year of a presidential term has historically been the strongest phase of the four-year cycle. He also acknowledged that investors are assessing whether higher rates and Federal Reserve policy could undermine the market's performance.
Navellier said growth stocks have outperformed value stocks for 12 consecutive years, suggesting that higher rates do not affect every part of the equity market equally. He compared the relatively strong growth of the U.S. economy with markets such as Japan, the United Kingdom and France, where rates have also been rising. Global government debt has reached $365 trillion, he said, warning that some countries may ultimately address their debt burdens by expanding the money supply.
FICO Drops 26.6% as Mortgage Pricing Competition Shifts
Fair Isaac, known by its ticker FICO, fell another 26.6% on Tuesday, making it the worst-performing S&P 500 constituent. As of Monday's close, the stock had already lost more than half its market value since the end of 2025. Investors have spent months questioning the resilience of the company's software business, while a federal plan to change mortgage-credit-score pricing has added to competitive pressure.
Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, announced plans to revise pricing arrangements in the government-backed mortgage market. In a post on X, he said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would combine their two existing pricing grids into one and add VantageScore to the current FICO Classic pricing framework. Earlier this month, Pulte also said FICO had raised the price of an individual credit score by 1,800% since 2020 and declared that its monopoly would end.
The plan could change the competitive dynamics and pricing of credit scores in the mortgage process. Artificial intelligence is also creating additional pressure on FICO's software business. Together, the two developments have prompted investors to reassess the company's prospects and valuation.
Anthropic Sets Out $518 Billion AI Infrastructure Plan
Artificial-intelligence company Anthropic's IPO filing says it plans to spend $518 billion on AI infrastructure over the next several years. The filing also shows that Anthropic recorded a net loss of $42 billion and an operating loss of $8 billion in 2025, while revenue rose to nearly $4.6 billion, 12 times the previous year's level. The company held about $20.3 billion in cash as of December 31, 2025.
The 261-page filing devotes 48 pages to the company's operations and another 80 pages to risk factors, including the possibility that artificial intelligence could pose existential risks to humanity. Anthropic continues to release model updates, while Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei has urged other AI developers to exercise greater caution when deploying new capabilities.
The filing confirms that Anthropic is seeking an IPO valuation of about $2 trillion. The listing is not expected to take place before the midterm elections in November. For investors, the documents put rapid revenue growth alongside substantial losses and an enormous capital-spending plan, making the scale of AI infrastructure investment and the company's financing needs key factors in assessing its public-market prospects.