Wall Street ends slightly up following choppy trading session

US equities closed the first day of October with slight advances, though the day's final figures conceal a far more turbulent market. The four largest large-cap benchmarks all alternated between positive and negative territory, creating chances for both bulls and bears.

Yields on US government bonds declined across all maturities, providing a friendlier environment for stocks. Yet the Dow and the Nasdaq Composite ended only marginally higher, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both finished beneath their intraday peaks. Buyers managed to push prices back up from the day's troughs but did not sustain a strong rally.

The closing numbers

• Dow Industrial Average: Added 21.01 points (+0.04%) to close at 50,932.10.

• S&P 500: Rose 14.92 points (+0.19%) to 7,666.46.

• Nasdaq Composite: Gained 10.53 points (+0.04%) to 26,871.60.

• Russell 2000: Climbed 9.76 points (+0.35%) to 2,806.63.

• Nasdaq 100: Increased 93.06 points (+0.31%) to 30,501.56.

The Russell 2000 posted the biggest percentage advance among the indices, trailed by the Nasdaq 100. The Dow and the Nasdaq Composite were the weakest performers.

How much did the benchmarks move in each direction during the session?

• Dow Industrial Average: touched a low of 50,546.54, down 364.55 points (−0.72%), and a high of 51,179.78, up 268.69 points (+0.53%). The day's spread totaled 633.24 points.

• S&P 500: fell to a low of 7,615.74, a decline of 35.80 points (−0.47%), and rose to a high of 7,684.48, a gain of 32.94 points (+0.43%). The range spanned 68.74 points.

• Nasdaq Composite: bottomed at 26,733.89, losing 127.18 points (−0.47%), and peaked at 27,014.47, adding 153.40 points (+0.57%). Its range measured 280.58 points.

• Nasdaq 100: dropped to a low of 30,274.65, down 133.85 points (−0.44%), and reached a high of 30,616.24, up 207.74 points (+0.68%). The range was 341.59 points.

The Nasdaq Composite ended the session 142.87 points off its peak, and the Dow settled 247.68 points beneath its high. Those figures illustrate the day's back-and-forth action more clearly than the modest final gains.

Treasury yields retreat

US bond yields declined on the day, with the largest drops at the short end. The probability of a rate hike in October, as implied by futures markets, has fallen to 30% from 64% just days earlier. The two-year yield sits at 4.78%, still well above the Fed's target range of 3.75% to 4.00%.

• 2-year yield: 4.781%, down 10.60 basis points.

• 5-year yield: 5.017%, down 8.73 basis points.

• 10-year yield: 5.2343%, down 5.85 basis points.

• 30-year yield: 5.561%, down 3.56 basis points.

Falling yields typically reduce borrowing costs and bolster stock valuations, but the day's small equity advances indicate that the bond-market reprieve failed to spark broad-based buying in the major benchmarks.

Economic data and the Fed remain in focus

Weekly initial jobless claims dropped to 197,000, undershooting the 200,000 forecast. The ISM manufacturing index for September slipped to 54.5 from 54.6, and rising input costs sustained inflation worries. Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson then indicated that the central bank should exercise patience before raising rates further. The next key indicator will be Friday's employment report.

The lesson for traders

A close near the opening level does not imply a calm session.

Wednesday's trading offered substantial swings in both directions. Bulls had the chance to drive prices to highs but failed to capture all of the gains. Bears pushed indexes to lows but could not keep them in negative territory at the finish.

For the upcoming session, the day's highs and lows serve as initial benchmarks. Surpassing and holding above the highs would strengthen the bullish case. Breaking and remaining below the lows would tilt the bias toward the bears. Until either scenario materializes, traders should remain open to continued two-sided price movement.