Treasury Yields Hit 19-Month High as Oil Surge and Iran Strikes Trigger Global Bond Rout and Stock Selloff

A global bond selloff intensified on September 1, pushing U.S. Treasury yields to a 19-month high as fresh military strikes involving Iran sent crude oil prices surging to $92 a barrel, stoking inflation fears and renewed bets on Federal Reserve rate hikes. Two Saudi oil tanks were struck in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that previously handled around 20 million barrels of crude per day. Estimates of current daily exports through the strait range from as low as 2 million barrels, according to some tracking firms and analysts, to between 8 million and 9 million barrels per the U.S. government.

Equity markets sold off broadly in response. The Nasdaq 100 fell roughly 1.30% in early trading before paring losses to around 0.96% by midday, while the S&P 500 dropped approximately 0.44% to 0.66% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid about 0.34% to 0.43%. Tech stocks bore the brunt of the decline, with five names in the QQQ falling more than 5%. Amazon slipped amid separate FTC scrutiny of its advertising business, and SHEIN tumbled in post-IPO trading.

The bond rout was not confined to the United States. Japan's 10-year yield crossed the key 3% milestone, European shares fell to multi-week lows, and London stocks declined after the summer holiday. The combination of higher energy costs, rising government borrowing needs, and reassessed inflation risks drove the synchronized selloff across sovereign debt markets globally. U.S. Treasury yields briefly eased from session highs after economic data crossed, though the broader trend remained upward. Anthropic separately drew attention after reports it signed a $35 billion cloud deal with Lambda. Bitcoin opened September with intraday swings between $77,283 and just above $78,000, following a 25% surge in August that left its market capitalization at $1.57 trillion.