U.S. equities ended mixed on Wednesday as declining Treasury yields lent support to major indexes, following the U.S. Treasury's announcement of expanded long-dated bond buybacks. The 30-year Treasury yield, which had risen the prior session amid inflation concerns, a geopolitical flare-up in the Middle East, rising U.S. debt levels and heavy capital demands from large AI firms, retreated after the announcement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.22% to 53,463.05, while the S&P 500 gained 0.21% to 7,707.98. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 declined 0.22% to 29,426.02.
Biotech stocks led gains after Moderna and Merck & Co reported positive results from a joint melanoma vaccine study. Moderna's shares surged 177%, lifting its market capitalization by $44 billion to approximately $70 billion. Merck's stock rose 12.6% to record highs, while BioNTech's shares climbed 22%.
Gold miners also benefited from the drop in U.S. yields, which lifted gold prices. Agnico Eagle and Barrick Mining shares gained 11% and more than 7%, respectively.
Semiconductor stocks were mixed. Marvell Technology rose nearly 10% after announcing an expanded partnership with Alphabet, which includes an option for the search giant to acquire up to $12.2 billion in Marvell shares. Alphabet closed marginally higher. The deal weighed on rival Broadcom, whose shares fell 4.6%, while other chipmakers also declined. Apple and Amazon both advanced more than 2%.
Consumer and retail stocks were broadly higher. Estee Lauder jumped 16.3% following better-than-expected earnings, and Target rose 4.3% after raising its outlook.
