Market Midday: Stocks Lower, Treasury Yields Rise, Trump-Xi Meeting Underway • 9/24/26

0:00See NBC Business News update midday. I'm Jessica Ettinger. The major averages are falling this afternoon as Treasury yields tick higher. That yield on the 10-year Treasury eyeing 5.2 percent. Earlier, the 30-year Treasury yield hit its highest since 2004. The Dow down 294 points, about a half a percent. IBM shares leading it lower, though shares down 2 percent. The S &P 500 index is down 29 points. The Nasdaq down 164 points. That's about a half a percent. Growth is good, but growth really has to deliver the higher rates go. We think with the growth backdrop, S &P can actually handle a 10-year around 530.

0:43That's Roundhills Drew Pettit on CNBC. Here's a take on Treasury yields from Hightower's Stephanie Link on CNBC. If yields are going higher because growth is better, which is what the main reason I think yields are going higher, that's not a bad thing. It's a nice diversification tool, but you will see some switching for sure with yields above five. But that being said, the economy is humming along. The Trump-She summit is on at the White House. Here's CNBC's Megan Casella in Washington. President Trump and President Xi are sitting down together right now. So far this morning, we've had a lot of pageantry here at the White House.

1:20an official welcome ceremony. And now the policy talk is getting started. So a couple of developments there already on the trade front. For one, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant saying late last night that the two sides had agreed to extend their tariff truce by another two months. On AI, President Trump saying this morning on True Social that he doesn't want to see anything change there. The next big item on the agenda after these meetings are over is that CEO studded State dinner tonight here at the White House. Starbucks closing about 250 underperforming locations, 1 % of its North American cafes.

1:54And for fiscal 2026, the coffee chain says it's opening about 440 new ones, which is actually lower than previous projections. This as Starbucks continues to work on a turnaround. McDonald's shares up about 1 % this afternoon. It's taking a page out of the Amazon and Walmart playbook ramping up its advertising business. The fast food chain's already showing display ads on digital drive-thru order boards at company-owned U.S. restaurants. McDonald's shares are coming off their biggest one-day loss in a year yesterday, down 5 % after its investor day when Mickey D's CEO said inflation will last longer than first thought and customers are just watching their wallets.

2:36Olive Garden parent Darden restaurant shares were lower on weaker than expected quarterly results. Darden says its top performing chain was Longhorn Steakhouse. The company says customers have become more choosy about their spending. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg debuted the new$1 ,300 Meta VR glasses at the company's Meta Connect event last night. It also showed off a Muse charm pendant in a push toward its AI agents. Muse was the number one free app download in the Apple App Store in the last couple of weeks. It will do things for you if you give it permission to organize your calendar and even do your shopping.

3:15I'm Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. Hey, Fidelity. What's it cost to invest with the Fidelity app?

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