SBS News

News > Economy

Wall Street Turns Lower in a Day… Additional Intervention Hinted

Published : Aug 21, 2026 7:46 AM

Video

U.S. stocks turned lower in a single day.

With all three major indexes closing lower simultaneously, both the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by over 1% to finish the session.

By sector, consumer staples fell by 2%, while healthcare and industrials declined by more than 1%.

Despite the U.S. Department of the Treasury's sudden announcement the previous day to more than double the size of early repurchases—known as buybacks—of long-term government bonds, the bond market's response remained limited.

The 10-year Treasury yield climbed above 4.7%, and the 30-year yield also surged to around 5.25%, coming dangerously close to a 20-year high.

The reason yields spiked again despite aggressive government market intervention is that the fundamental problems of the nation's massive debt and fiscal deficit have not been resolved.

However, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent left the door open for additional measures during an interview with CNBC, stating that the size of the buybacks could become even larger than the initially planned 4 billion dollars per operation.

Meanwhile, as U.S. President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that they would pursue intense sanctions and economic measures against Iran, international oil prices rose by over 2%, fueling concerns that it could reignite inflation.

Among individual stocks, major retailer Walmart plummeted more than 9% after posting earnings that fell short of expectations alongside a sluggish outlook, while Moderna, which had surged the previous day, plunged over 23% as profit-taking flooded the market.

As the impact of government market intervention remains limited, market caution persists ahead of NVIDIA's upcoming earnings announcement scheduled for next week.