Stock Market Today: Stocks Reverse Lower as Treasury Yields Spike
A good-news-is-bad-news retail sales report lowered rate-cut expectations and caused government bond yields to surge.


Stocks opened higher Monday as bargain hunters swooped in and market participants cheered a solid retail sales report. The buying power ran out of steam around lunchtime, though, with the main benchmarks closing in negative territory.
The Nasdaq Composite logged a third straight weekly loss last Friday, while the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each finished lower for a second consecutive week.
This likely had several investors buying the dip to start the new week, while some seemingly encouraging economic data also boosted sentiment early on. Specifically, the Census Bureau said retail sales rose 0.7% in March vs the prior month, outpacing economists' expectations for a 0.3% increase. Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, also came in above forecasts.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
"Strong employment growth has continued to propel consumer demand during the first quarter of the year with retail and food services sales surprising to the upside once again," says Eugenio Alemán, chief economist at Raymond James. "The strength in consumer demand also gives credence to the strong inflation reading during the first quarter of the year, which is not good news for the Federal Reserve and for interest rates going forward."
Indeed, futures traders are now pricing in 41% chance the first quarter-point rate cut will come in July – down from 50% one week ago – according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
As a result, Treasury yields spiked and stocks reversed course. At the close, the Nasdaq was down 1.8% at 15,885 and the S&P 500 was 1.2% lower at 5,061.
Informatica buyout buzz sinks Salesforce
The Dow, meanwhile, closed down 0.7% at 37,735 as Salesforce (CRM) plunged 7.3%. This easily made the software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm today's worst-performing Dow Jones stock. Sparking the selloff was news that Salesforce is in late-stage talks to buy Informatica (INFA, -6.5%), an artificial intelligence-powered data management platform.
While no specific dollar amount for the deal has been reported, The Wall Street Journal suggests it is below the $38.48 per-share price INFA closed at on Friday, April 13. It also notes that the buyout would be the biggest for Salesforce since its nearly $28 billion acquisition of Slack in 2021.
However, the Dow's losses were contained thanks to Goldman Sachs (GS), which climbed 2.9% on a better-than-expected first-quarter earnings report.
Tesla drops on layoff news
Tesla (TSLA) was another big mover today, sinking 5.6% on news the electric vehicle maker will cut roughly 10% of its global workforce. Additionally, two top executives – Rohan Patel and Drew Baglino – announced they were leaving the company.
Related content
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
The Retirement 'Rule of $1 More'
The 'Rule of $1 More' explains how to plan for critical retirement thresholds. Because "you don't want to step off a cliff just because of $1 more."
-
Recent Market Volatility Offers Valuable Lessons for Investors
Stocks will always rise and fall, but strategic investors can benefit through dollar-cost averaging, rebalancing in down markets and taking the long view.
-
Recent Market Volatility Offers Valuable Lessons for Investors
Stocks will always rise and fall, but strategic investors can benefit through dollar-cost averaging, rebalancing in down markets and taking the long view.
-
Retiring Early? This Strategy Cuts Your Income Tax to Zero
When retiring early, married couples can use this little-known (and legitimate) strategy to take a six-figure income every year — tax-free.
-
Ditch the Golf Shoes: Your Retirement Needs a Side Gig
A side gig in retirement can help combat boredom, loneliness and the threat of inflation eroding your savings. And the earlier you start planning, the better.
-
The Best Aerospace and Defense ETFs to Buy
The best aerospace and defense ETFs can help investors capitalize on higher government defense spending or hedge against the potential of a large-scale conflict.
-
Roth IRA Conversions in the Summer? Why Now May Be the Sweet Spot
Converting now would enable you to spread a possible tax hit over more than one payment while reducing future taxes.
-
A Financial Expert's Three Steps to Becoming Debt-Free (Even in This Economy)
If debt has you spiraling, now is the time to take a few common-sense steps to help knock it down and get it under control.
-
I'm an Insurance Expert: This Is How Your Insurance Protects You While You're on Vacation
Here are three key things to consider about your insurance (auto, property and health) when traveling within the U.S., including coverage for rental cars, personal belongings and medical emergencies.
-
Stock Market Today: It's 'Most Sectors Go' Ahead of Independence Day
The resilience trade continues to work, even for sectors and stocks with specific uncertainties.