Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq jump as easing Treasury yields lower Fed’s rate hike bets; Salesforce, Microsoft, Meta among gainers

The US stock market indices recorded a gap-up opening on Thursday, September 3, as investors focused on the easing US Treasury yields and latest comments from US Fed Governor Waller lowering the expectations of an upcoming US Fed rate hike, unless inflation data suggests otherwise.

After opening around 250 points higher, Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 0.89% or 472 points to 53,534 on Thursday’s market, in comparison to 53,061.95 points at the previous US equity market close, as per MarketWatch data.

The S&P 500 index opened 20 points higher, then surged around 0.6% to 7,716 points in the early hours, in comparison to 7,666.60 at the previous stock market close.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index jumped 0.53% after opening around 91-points higher on September 3, trading around 29,312 points, in comparison to 29,143.33 as of 9:50 am (ET), according to the exchange data.

Stocks like Salesforce, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Nvidia, IBM were among the top gainers on Dow Jones, while Cisco, Merck, 3M, among others were the laggards as of the early trade.

Robinhood Markets, Principal Financial, Palantir Tech among others were gainers on S&P 500, while Ciena, Broadcom, Tyson Foods were among the losers on September 3.

SpaceX, Thomson Reuters, Tesla, Meta, among others were among gainers on Nasdaq 100, while stock like Lumentum, Western Digital, Seagate were among the losers on Thursday's market.

Treasury yields at play

The yield of the benchmark US 10-year Treasury note was trading at 4.752% as of 9:50 am (ET), eased down from its recent record high levels as US Fed Governor Christopher Waller said that he is ‘inclined to support’ the key interest rates for the US economy, lower rate hike fears in the market.

However, key focus will remain on the upcoming inflation data, despite the hopes of investors pinned on keeping the rates unchanged later this month.

CME Group’s FedWatch data suggest that the market now predicts that there is a 51.6% chance of the central bank keeping the key benchmark interest rates on hold at 3.50% to 3.75% range unless inflation data prompts a rate movement move.

While remaining 48.4% expects that the central bank will raise its interest rates to the range of 3.75% to 4% in the upcoming September 2026 policy meeting.

Oil jumps above $97/barrel

Global crude oil prices surged to their highest level since June 4, 2026, during Thursday’s market amid the elevated uncertainty and no signs of a de-escalation or a potential peace deal between the United States and Iran.

Investing.com data showed that benchmark Brent crude oil prices surged 2% during the intraday trading session on Thursday, September 3, to a high of $97.62 per barrel (bbl), in comparison to $95.63 per bbl at the previous commodity market close.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) engaged through a series of military strikes against Iranian military targets which include air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine laying capabilities, and communications sites.

While in retaliation, Iran hit US bases located across Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait. The data also showed that benchmark Brent crude oil prices have risen nearly 15% in the last one-month period, and were trading 8.7% higher during the last five market sessions.